TLDR
- Viking Global Investors’ Ole Andreas Halvorsen sold all shares in Nvidia and Amazon during Q3, eliminating positions worth billions from the $39 billion fund
- Halvorsen purchased 2.4 million Microsoft shares worth $1.26 billion, making it the fund’s fifth-largest holding at 3.2% of assets
- Microsoft reported Q2 earnings of $4.14 per share on $81.3 billion revenue, beating analyst estimates but stock dropped 6.8% after hours
- Azure cloud revenue grew 39% year-over-year but slowed from previous quarter’s 40% growth rate, with guidance of 37-38% for next quarter
- Microsoft’s capital spending hit record $37.5 billion, up 66% from last year, with two-thirds going toward AI computing chips
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Ole Andreas Halvorsen, the billionaire chief of Viking Global Investors, completely eliminated his fund’s positions in Nvidia and Amazon during the third quarter of 2025. The moves were revealed in the fund’s 13F filing, which shows the buying and selling activity of institutional investors managing at least $100 million in assets.
Viking Global sold all 3,681,935 shares of Nvidia, which had been the fund’s 26th-largest holding. The fund also dumped all 3,897,092 shares of Amazon, previously its eighth-largest holding. The sales came as Viking Global manages close to $39 billion in total assets.
While profit-taking may explain part of the selling, concerns about AI sustainability could be another factor. Historical precedent shows that every game-changing technology has faced an early stage bubble over the past three decades. Investors often overestimate adoption rates of new innovations, leading to unmet expectations.
Valuation concerns may have also played a role in the decision. Nvidia’s price-to-sales ratio briefly surpassed 30 in early November, a level historically associated with bubble conditions. Amazon traded at a price-to-earnings ratio of 34 during the third quarter, which Halvorsen and his advisors may have found too expensive.
The average stock in Viking Global’s portfolio has been held for less than 19 months. This suggests Halvorsen takes profits when opportunities arise rather than holding positions long-term.
Microsoft Becomes New Top-Five Holding
During the same quarter, Halvorsen purchased 2,429,412 shares of Microsoft worth almost $1.26 billion. This purchase made Microsoft the fund’s fifth-largest holding, accounting for 3.2% of invested assets.
Microsoft’s future depends heavily on artificial intelligence success. Azure, the company’s cloud infrastructure platform, is adding generative AI and large language model solutions to attract and retain clients. Azure’s constant-currency growth rate reached 39% in Microsoft’s fiscal first quarter ended September 30.
The company offers more than just AI services. Legacy segments Windows and Office continue generating high margins and strong operating cash flow. These mature businesses provide funds for Microsoft to invest in AI, cloud computing, and quantum computing.
Microsoft closed September with $102 billion in combined cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments. The company generated $45 billion in net cash from operations in just the first three months of its fiscal year.
The stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 25. This represents a 16% discount to its average forward P/E over the past five years.
Microsoft Earnings Beat Expectations But Stock Falls
Microsoft reported second-quarter earnings of $4.14 per share on revenue of $81.3 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of $3.91 per share on revenue of $80.3 billion. Despite beating estimates, the stock dropped 6.8% in after-hours trading.
Azure cloud division revenue grew 39% during the October-December quarter. This beat Wall Street estimates of 37.8% but represented a slight slowdown from the previous quarter’s 40% growth rate. CFO Amy Hood said the company expects third-quarter Azure growth between 37% and 38% in constant currency.
Microsoft spent a record $37.5 billion on capital expenditures during the quarter, up 66% from last year. About two-thirds of that spending went toward computing chips for AI infrastructure. The spending exceeded analyst estimates of $34.31 billion.
Microsoft disclosed that M365 Copilot has 15 million annual users. The AI assistant costs $30 per month and represents the company’s main AI offering for business customers.
The company’s “Other” segment swung to income of $10 billion from a loss of $2.3 billion a year ago. Microsoft attributed this change to OpenAI’s corporate restructuring. Microsoft owns about 27% of the AI startup.
OpenAI plans to spend at least $281 billion with Microsoft. The restructuring deal included a commitment from OpenAI to buy $250 billion of Azure services. Hood said capital spending will be slightly lower in the current quarter than in the just-completed period.
