Billionaire Philippe Laffont Exits CoreWeave, Shifts Focus to AI-Driven Semiconductor Supplier

Billionaire investor Philippe Laffont's hedge fund, Coatue Management, has divested its entire position in CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV), a high-growth AI data center provider, and significantly increased its stake in Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), a leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer. The shift, revealed in Coatue's latest SEC filings, marks a strategic realignment within the AI technology sector. CoreWeave, which went public in early 2025, had been a flagship holding for Coatue since 2024. The fund initially led the cloud computing company's Series C funding round and later added to its position following the IPO. However, Coatue began reducing its stake in the third quarter of 2025 and fully exited by the fourth quarter. The timing coincided with a roughly 50% decline in CoreWeave's share price since October 2025. The company's business model relies on securing long-term GPU contracts with developers before building out data center capacity, using those contracts as collateral for construction loans. This approach has enabled rapid growth but has also left the company highly leveraged. CoreWeave's revenue backlog surged from $15.1 billion at year-end 2024 to $66.8 billion by the end of 2025, though a significant portion of that revenue is scheduled for delivery more than 48 months out. Despite expectations of more than doubling revenue in 2026, the company's capital expenditures are growing at a similar pace, keeping it cash flow negative and dependent on debt financing. Coatue's new focus appears to be on the upstream side of the AI supply chain. The fund nearly doubled its position in Applied Materials, the world's largest wafer fabrication equipment provider. Applied Materials supplies critical tools to chipmakers across both logic and memory segments, positioning it to benefit from the semiconductor industry's ongoing expansion. The shift suggests Laffont is betting on the infrastructure underpinning AI development rather than the data center operators themselves. The move highlights the evolving risk profile of AI-related investments. While CoreWeave offers high-growth potential, its business model carries significant execution risk. In contrast, Applied Materials provides more stable exposure to the AI boom through its essential role in semiconductor manufacturing. The decision to exit CoreWeave and increase Applied Materials holdings reflects a calculated shift toward more established players in the AI ecosystem.