Ole Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global bought into two big, second-half turnaround stories in the third quarter. The Norwegian-American billionaire’s hedge fund opened positions in Starbucks and Tesla sometime during the three months ended Sept. 30, the latest regulatory filing shows. Those bets — worth more than $100 million each — appear to be paying off as the pair have lately rallied. Halvorsen bought almost 1.7 million Starbucks worth $162 million during the quarter. The coffee chain lured Brian Niccol away from Chipotle in August to serve as its new chief executive starting in September. The appointment gave investors hope that Starbucks could fix issues plaguing its business. Starbucks shares surged more than 24% the day of the announcement, its best day ever. That rally accounted for almost all of Starbucks’ third quarter gain of more than 25%. So far in the fourth quarter, shares have risen less than 1%. (By comparison, the S & P 500 has added nearly 2% in the quarter.) Despite that enormous move one day in August, Starbucks shares are up about 2.5% in 2024, underperforming the S & P 500’s advance of around 23%. The average analyst polled by LSEG has a buy rating, with a price target suggesting shares will rise less than 2% over the coming year. Tesla rebound Tesla ‘s recovery revolved around CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who during the summer emerged as the most prominent backer of President-elect Donald Trump’s bid for the White House. Musk went on to donate an estimated $200 million to Trump’s campaign , supporting the Republican daily on social media and appearing at campaign rallies. Trump this week named Musk to co-head an office focused on government efficiency. Tesla surged more than 32% in the third quarter, and shares have climbed almost 23% so far in the fourth. Though Tesla slumped 29% in this year’s first quarter, the electrical vehicle maker has now climbed 29% in 2024. For their part, Wall Street’s sell-side analysts see those gains disappearing, with their consensus price target implying more than 28% downside over the next year, according to LSEG. Still, the average analyst rates Tesla a buy. TSLA SBUX YTD mountain Tesla and Starbucks, year to date To be sure, both Starbucks and Tesla are relatively small positions for Halvorsen, an alumnus of the late Julian Robertson ‘s Tiger Management. Viking Global’s stake in U.S. Bancorp , for example, Halvorsen’s largest single position, grew by more than 32% in the third quarter, and was worth more than $1.5 billion at the end of the quarter. Visa , Charles Schwab and Bank of America were other stocks that Halvorsen opened positions in during the September quarter. Stocks that Viking Global zeroed out in the quarter ranged from Meta Platforms to Dollar Tree to UnitedHealth .
