AI concerns hit technology stocks; stock-picking funds such as Tiger Global and Lone Pine suffer heavy losses in October

Concerns surrounding artificial intelligence investments have triggered a massive sell-off in technology stocks. Several top stock-picking hedge funds suffered double-digit losses in October, with some funds nearly giving back all of their gains for the year.

According to Bloomberg on November 6, citing sources familiar with the matter, Steve Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital lost around 9% last month, after previously erasing a year-to-date cumulative gain as high as 44%. The fund is now down about 7% for the full year of 2026, ranking at the bottom among its peers.

Tiger Global Management’s hedge fund fell 8.5% in October, wiping out nearly all of its year-to-date gains; Whale Rock Asset Management’s flagship fund dropped about 8%, narrowing its 2026 gain to approximately 34%.

Meanwhile, after the Democratic Party scored a landslide victory in the US midterm elections, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index plummeted by 5.5% on Thursday in a single day—the biggest drop since April 2025—demonstrating that selling pressure still persists in the market.

This turbulence has swept across various hedge fund strategies, with chip manufacturers’ stocks hit particularly hard. The midterm elections essentially evolved into a referendum on the outlook for new data center construction, with AI financing concerns translating into a concentrated sell-off in the technology sector.

In this cycle of adjustment, Lone Pine Capital’s position is the most challenging.

Reports indicate the fund lost about 9% in October. Prior to this, its year-to-date return had declined from a peak of 44% to be almost completely erased. As of now, it is down about 7% for the full year 2026, ranking among the worst-performing stock-picking funds.

In comparison, Tiger Global’s hedge fund fell 8.5% in October, bringing its year-to-date gain essentially to zero. Its smaller crossover fund saw a comparatively modest loss of 3.3% last month, but still retains a year-to-date increase of 15.3%.

Whale Rock’s flagship public-private fund fell about 8%, narrowing its cumulative 2026 gain to around 34%; its pure equity long-only fund suffered an even deeper decline, plunging 12.3% in October and reducing its year-to-date gain to 30.6%.

Dan Sundheim’s D1 Capital Partners’ equity portfolio dropped 4.4% last month, taking its year-to-date return down to 18.8%.

Atreides Management’s flagship public-private crossover fund, managing about $3.4 billion, declined 9.5% in October—among the largest drops in its category. Thanks to investments in SpaceX and several other private companies, the fund is still up about 43% year-to-date.

Atreides’ smaller hedge fund fares even worse—it plunged 16% last month, with year-to-date gains narrowing sharply to only 2.5%.

Amid a backdrop of broad losses for stock-picking funds, Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management was one of the few exceptions. Its hedge fund rose 0.2% in October and is up 13% so far this year, standing out among its peers.

Looking across the wider hedge fund industry, the divergence between different strategies intensified markedly in October.

Multi-strategy funds were also unable to escape losses completely: Balyasny fell 3.4%, Millennium dropped 2.3%, and ExodusPoint lost 2.4%. Meanwhile, Citadel Wellington rose 1.7% and D.E. Shaw Composite gained 0.7%, delivering relatively steady performances.

Quantitative funds and macro funds generally saw more moderate losses than stock-picking funds, with CFM Discus and Winton Diversified Macro posting small gains. However, Marshall Wace TOPS fell 3.6%, and Kirkoswald slumped by as much as 6.4%.

*Arini data as of October 23.