- Calpers, managing over $500 billion, sold 5.6 million Nvidia (NVDA), 256,743 Super Micro (SMCI), and 4.2 million AT&T (T) shares in Q4, trimming stakes in 2024’s high-fliers, while boosting its Rivian (RIVN) holding by 208,326 shares to 1.3 million, per its SEC filing.
- Nvidia (up 170% in 2024), Super Micro (up 84% YTD 2025), and AT&T (up 36% in 2024) saw Calpers cash in on gains, while Rivian – down 43% last year – reflects a bet on EV potential despite a 2.5% 2025 drop.
- The pension’s moves, detailed by Barron’s, balance profit-taking from tech and telecom surges with a calculated stake in Rivian’s volatile EV journey, guided by its systematic, tight-lipped strategy.
According to Barron’s, Calpers, the behemoth of U.S. public pensions with over $500 billion in assets, shook up its portfolio in Q4, offloading shares in high-fliers like Nvidia (NVDA), Super Micro Computer (SMCI), and AT&T (T) while doubling down on the embattled electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive (RIVN), as revealed in its recent SEC filing. The moves reflect a strategic pivot away from some of 2024’s darlings – Nvidia’s 170% surge dwarfed the S&P 500’s (SPX) 23% climb, Super Micro rose more than 7% despite delisting threats, and AT&T soared 36% – toward Rivian, which slumped 43% last year but holds promise amid a volatile EV landscape. In an email to Barron’s, Calpers played coy, citing its quantitative, systematic approach and sidestepping specifics, leaving the market to ponder the logic behind trimming 5.6 million Nvidia shares (down to 59.7 million), 256,743 Super Micro shares (to 614,287), and 4.2 million AT&T shares (to 25.2 million), while snapping up 208,326 more Rivian shares (up to 1.3 million).
Nvidia’s rollercoaster ride – rocketing last year only to stumble in late January after DeepSeek’s cost-effective AI platform raised doubts about heavy chip spending, then rebounding – offers a glimpse into Calpers’ sell-off timing, perhaps locking in gains before 2025’s flatline (versus the S&P’s 2.2% uptick). Super Micro, now up 84% this year after dodging a Nasdaq delisting bullet and buoyed by an optimistic outlook despite a short-seller hit, and AT&T, riding a 17% 2025 wave thanks to subscriber wins and a media-exit pivot, suggest Calpers cashed out on momentum rather than distress. Rivian, however, tells a different tale – down 2.5% this year after a 43% 2024 drop, yet bolstered by Volkswagen’s billions and a van-sales expansion beyond Amazon – hinting Calpers sees long-term value in an EV underdog despite a mixed Q4 report last week that dinged its stock.
The pension’s maneuvers, tracked by Barron’s Inside Scoop, spotlight the insider dance of big players like Calpers, whose trades ripple through markets given its heft and systematic bent. Nvidia’s AI chip dominance, Super Micro’s server surge, and AT&T’s telecom turnaround made them ripe for profit-taking, while Rivian’s EV gamble aligns with a bet on a sector poised for rebound if execution sharpens. Calpers’ portfolio shuffle underscores a nuanced play: shedding volatile winners at peak hype while leaning into a beaten-down name with growth flickers, all navigated through its quiet, algorithmic lens.
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