APPALOOSA Management generated a 32 percent return through the first half of 2026, continuing David Tepper's track record of roughly 25 percent annual gains after fees since the fund's 1993 inception.
Tepper has returned outside capital since 2019 and now holds approximately 90 percent of Appaloosa's assets directly. His strategy is built on concentrated bets: about 40 percent of his public equity portfolio sits in just three companies, according to the fund's latest 13-F filing.
Amazon (AMZN) is Appaloosa's largest holding. Tepper doubled his position in the first quarter and added further shares in the second quarter, bringing his stake to 5 million shares valued at roughly $1.25 billion. The stock trades at 30 times forward earnings—an attractive valuation for a company investing heavily to expand AWS compute capacity.
Amazon is prioritizing margin improvements while deploying capital into server and networking equipment with short payback periods and backed by long-term customer contracts, according to CEO Andy Jassy. This investment phase has pushed free cash flow negative over the past 12 months, but the company has pursued this strategy before with historically strong long-term results.
Micron Technology (MU), one of three global memory chipmakers, is the second major holding. The stock surged over 300 percent in the first half of 2026 on severe supply shortages driven by artificial intelligence compute demand. Tepper reduced his stake by 41 percent last quarter to take profits, though Micron remains a top position.
Memory chipmakers were slow to expand capacity after previous cycles of overbuilding. Now committed to major expansions, industry estimates put market equilibrium at 2029 earliest. Micron management has implemented measures to reduce cyclical earnings swings.
