D.E. Shaw Just Disclosed a $912 Million SpaceX Stake and a 58% Broadcom Cut in the Same Quarter
In a single quarterly filing, D.E. Shaw made a massive bet on a freshly minted space giant while slashing its position in one of the hottest AI chip stocks by more than half. What those two moves reveal about where…
D.E. Shaw & Co. disclosed a brand new position in SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX | SPCX Price Prediction) worth $912,392,400 and trimmed its stake in Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) by 58.3% in the same quarterly filing, according to the firm’s Form 13F-HR filed August 14, 2026 for the period ending June 30.
These are two separate line items in a book of 4,833 positions, alongside 977 new positions, 1,734 added, 1,595 trimmed and 614 exited in the quarter. Read them as parallel data points, not a linked trade.
The SpaceX Line Item
The filing lists 5,340,000 shares of SPCX common valued at $912,392,400, representing 0.434% of the portfolio. This is a first-time entry, so no prior-quarter comparison exists.
SpaceX completed its IPO on June 12, 2026 at a reported price of $135, widely reported as the largest IPO ever. The stock closed at $146.05 on August 17, 2026, but it is down 13.02% from its June 12 debut through August 14. Market cap sits near $1.13 trillion. Fundamentally, Q2 2026 revenue came in at $7.81 billion, with Starlink subscribers doubling to 12.0 million and adjusted EBITDA of $3.54 billion, up 191%. Backlog stands at $47.50 billion, and CapEx ran $18.37 billion in the quarter.
The Broadcom Line Item
D.E. Shaw held 2,722,161 Broadcom shares valued at $1,028,296,318 as of June 30, a share change of -3,805,547. The firm reduced but did not fully exit the position. The firm still owned more than a billion dollars of Broadcom at quarter end.
Broadcom’s Q2 FY2026 was strong on its face: revenue of $22.2 billion, up 48% year over year, with AI semiconductor revenue of $10.8 billion, up 143%. CEO Hock Tan called demand “insatiable” and guided Q3 AI semi revenue to $16 billion. But gross margin is compressing from 77.1% toward roughly 74% as the AI mix grows, and shares have fallen 8.13% in the past week even as they hold a 13.97% YTD gain. Polymarket assigns only a 21.5% probability that Q3 AI revenue exceeds $18 billion, implying the guide is largely priced in.
Should Retirement Investors Follow?
D.E. Shaw is a quantitative, systematic, multi-strategy firm, and these are firm-level positions, not personal conviction picks by David E. Shaw. The firm also carries two-sided options exposure. Same filing: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) PUT positions of 1,446,200 shares valued $539,461,524. A single long equity line is not automatically a directional endorsement, and 13F data is reported roughly 45 days after quarter end. Positions may already have changed.
For a retirement-focused investor, the read is that a quant fund’s disclosed line item is thin evidence for a buy-and-hold decision. SPCX is a newly listed stock trading below its debut with a very short price history, and Broadcom’s setup rewards conviction on AI capex durability (we profiled seven suppliers riding that same buildout, from power to cooling, in a free report you can grab here). Weigh each on its own merits. This article is not investment advice.
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Joel South covers large-cap stocks, dividend investing, and major market trends, with a focus on earnings analysis, valuation, and turning complex data into actionable insights for investors.
He brings more than 15 years of experience as an investor and financial journalist, including 12 years at The Motley Fool, where he served as an investment analyst, Bureau Chief, and later led the Fool.com investing news desk. He has also co-hosted an investing podcast and appeared across TV and radio discussing market trends.
