Hedge funds and mutual funds converged on three artificial intelligence-related stocks in the second quarter of 2026, according to Goldman Sachs data released on August 22.
Both investor groups increased their holdings in Bloom Energy, Flex and Seagate Technology during the period, as part of a broader shift toward financials and healthcare sectors. The data, covering 991 hedge funds with $5.4 trillion in gross equity positions and 504 large-cap active mutual funds managing $4.6 trillion, showed hedge funds expanded their net tilt toward financials by more than 300 basis points. Mutual funds similarly increased their financial sector overweight to the largest since at least 2012.
The convergence on the three AI stocks followed divergent positioning in other technology names. Mutual funds purchased shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Micron Technology and SanDisk, while hedge funds reduced exposure to those same companies. In mega-cap AI leaders, hedge funds trimmed most positions with the exception of Microsoft and Amazon.com, which they added to as mutual funds pared holdings.
Goldman Sachs identified 12 AI infrastructure stocks that attracted purchases from both hedge funds and mutual funds in Q2, including American Electric Power, AXT, Bloom Energy, CoreWeave, Flex, Lion Electric, NiSource, Sanmina, SiTime, Seagate Technology, Talen Energy and Xcel Energy. The report noted that hedge funds remain more exposed to the AI trade overall than mutual funds.
Sector positioning trends showed both investor groups maintaining large overweights in financials and healthcare, while differing on consumer exposure. Hedge funds favored consumer discretionary over staples, whereas mutual funds took the opposite stance. A rolling portfolio of shared favorite stocks returned 29% year-to-date through August 22, outpacing the equal-weight S&P 500 gain of 16% over the same period. Since 2013, the shared favorites delivered an annual return of 17% with a standard deviation of 22%, trading at a median P/E premium of 25 times earnings compared to 19 times for the median S&P 500 stock.
New additions to the shared favorites group included Capital One Financial, SpaceX and Thermo Fisher Scientific, while Marvell Technology was removed from the list.
