Philippe Laffont was known for successfully investing in technology stocks before he founded Coatue Management, a technology-focused hedge fund, in 1999. Since then, he has grown the fund’s size to more $35 billion in assets under management.

Laffont has his finger on the pulse of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. His contrarian investment in Super Micro Computer, a company that manufactures high-end servers for data centers, turned some heads earlier this year.

Coatue bought into Supermicro at a controversial moment, but it seems Laffont had a change of heart. At the end of June, there were zero shares of the custom server builder in its portfolio.

While Coatue was disposing of Supermicro with its left hand, it was buying up shares of Intuitive Surgical (ISRG -1.34%) with its right. The hedge fund snapped up 39,512 shares of the robot-assisted surgery pioneer in the second quarter.

Intuitive Surgical stock has tumbled this year, but Laffont has reasons to expect a rebound. Here’s a look at what they are to see whether this stock could be a good fit for your portfolio.

An unbeatable advantage

When the market closed on Sept. 12, 2025, shares of Intuitive Surgical were up 19,390% since its initial public offering (IPO) 25 years ago. A few years before its IPO, the Food and Drug Administration made the company’s da Vinci robotic surgical system the first one with clearance to assist with minimally invasive abdominal surgeries.

Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, and Stryker market surgical robots, but they entered the market after Intuitive Surgical. The pioneer is still the largest member of its industry. At the end of 2024, there were 11,040 Intuitive Surgical systems installed in hospitals worldwide.

Intuitive’s massive installed base of machines isn’t sitting idle either. Surgical teams trained to use da Vinci systems performed 2.7 million procedures last year. Plus, Ion, its more recently launched lung tumor biopsy machine, performed 95,000 procedures last year.

To date, competing systems generally address procedures that don’t already employ da Vinci systems, such as knee replacements and spinal surgeries. Hospital systems can spend more than $1 million installing a da Vinci system and then an even larger sum supporting and training the professionals who will use it. That’s a huge advantage over newer surgical systems that competitors probably won’t be able to overcome.

Placing systems and training surgeons to use them generates revenue for Intuitive, but these aren’t the main sources. Around 84% of total revenue last year came from recurring sources such as instruments and accessories that must be replaced before each procedure.

Why Intuitive Surgical stock is down

Intuitive Surgical has been a terrific stock for its long-term shareholders, but it’s been a stinker this year. It’s down about 26% from a peak it set in February.

Fear that tariffs will pressure profit margins has been a weight on Intuitive Surgical’s stock price. When reporting second-quarter results in July, management reduced its adjusted gross profit margin expectation to a range between 66% and 67%. That would be a minor decline from the 69.1% gross margin reported last year, but this temporary setback is hardly a reason to avoid the stock.

Earlier this year, Medtronic submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration to perform urology procedures with its Hugo RAS system. Roughly one-fifth of all procedures performed with da Vinci machines last year were in the urology category.

Investors concerned that the Hugo system will pull market share from da Vinci should know that its launch overseas hasn’t been very successful. It’s been authorized for sale in the European Union since 2021, but Medtronic still doesn’t tell investors how much revenue Hugo’s generating in its quarterly reports.

Time to buy?

In the U.S., hospitals considering a new surgical system for urologic surgeries could have a new option from Medtronic by the end of the year. Luckily for Intuitive Surgical, the da Vinci 5 system, which launched in March 2024, already makes Medtronic’s Hugo system seem outdated.

Despite tariff pressure, investors can expect significant growth from Intuitive Surgical. Management is forecasting overall procedure growth of 15.5% to 17.0% this year. High switching costs for hospitals could lead to procedure growth that continues rising for another decade or two.

With a stock price that’s been trading at 55.3 times forward earnings expectations, investors are already expecting profit growth at a double-digit percentage for years to come. Intuitive Surgical stock could fall hard if Medtronic or another competitor begins pressuring sales growth in the years ahead.

Given Hugo’s performance in the E.U., threats from well-heeled competitors appear toothless. Adding some shares to a diverse portfolio now could be the right move for investors with a high risk tolerance.

Cory Renauer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intuitive Surgical. The Motley Fool recommends Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $75 calls on Medtronic and short January 2026 $85 calls on Medtronic. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Between earnings season — the six-week period every quarter where a majority of the most-influential businesses report their operating results — economic data releases, and updates from the Trump administration, keeping up on market-moving news events can be challenging for investors. In fact, it’s easy for something of importance to slip through the cracks.

One key data release that investors might have overlooked is the May 15 deadline for institutional investors with at least $100 million in assets under management to file Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A 13F is required to be filed no later than 45 calendar days following the end to a quarter, and it provides investors with a concise snapshot of which stocks Wall Street’s top-tier asset managers have been buying and selling.

Though 13Fs have their flaws — e.g., they can offer a stale snapshot for very active hedge funds — they’re invaluable in helping investors piece together which stocks and trends have the undivided attention of successful fund managers.

While investors tend to wait on the edge of their seat to see what billionaire Warren Buffett has been up to, he’s far from the only billionaire known to make waves in the stock market. Third Point’s Dan Loeb is another billionaire asset manager known for spotting good deals.

During the March-ended quarter, Third Point’s billionaire chief made two curious trades in the artificial intelligence (AI) arena. He sent his fund’s entire stake in Meta Platforms (META -0.98%) packing, and loaded up on shares of an undisputed AI leader whose addressable market can potentially grow 25-fold over a 10-year stretch.

Billionaire Dan Loeb’s Third Point logs out of Meta

Based on Third Point’s 13F, Loeb completely exited nine positions during the first quarter, none of which is more of an eyebrow-raiser than social media titan Meta Platforms. Loeb green-lit the sale of all 665,000 shares that were held at the end of 2024.

It’s quite possible that this sale represented nothing more than a profit-taking opportunity for Third Point’s billionaire chief. On average, Loeb’s fund holds its positions for a little over 13 months, and Third Point’s Meta stake had been initiated during the third quarter of 2023. With Meta stock more than doubling during this period, Loeb had plenty of reason to cash in his chips.

The question is: Was something more nefarious behind this selling activity than just benign profit-taking?

One concern is the potential for the U.S. economy to fall into a recession. Though the New York Federal Reserve’s recession probability tool only shows 28.7% chance of a recession occurring through June 2026, it has an uncanny track record of successfully forecasting economic downturns when this probability climbs above 32%, which it did in 2023 and 2024. The last time the New York Fed’s recession probability indicator provided a false positive was October 1966.

While most stocks tend to be adversely impacted by recessions, Meta is particularly vulnerable since almost 98% of its net sales derive from advertising. Businesses aren’t shy about paring their marketing budgets at the first signs of trouble.

It’s also possible Dan Loeb was skeptical of Meta’s future stock performance given CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to spend aggressively on AI-data center infrastructure. Despite Zuckerberg’s phenomenal track record of developing new products and monetizing them only when the time is right, he’s been consistently upping his company’s projected capital expenditures (capex). Meta’s capex forecast for 2025 slots in between $64 billion and $72 billion, which is up $5.5 billion at the midpoint from the company’s prior guidance.

Considering how pricey the stock market is as a whole, Wall Street and investors have little tolerance for mistakes. Meta Platforms spending billions on AI infrastructure above its prior forecast leaves the door open for disappointment.

While I don’t fault Dan Loeb for locking in his profits, I ultimately believe he’ll regret exiting this position when looking back years from now.

Third Point’s billionaire investor scooped up shares of a hypergrowth stock

Excluding options, Third Point’s 13F from the March-ended quarter shows billionaire Dan Loeb opened 10 new positions, none of which offers more intrigue than the face of the AI revolution, Nvidia (NVDA -2.42%).

During the first quarter, Loeb scooped up 1.45 million shares of Nvidia, which marks the first time his fund has held shares of this AI leader since the second quarter of 2023.

To state the obvious, the global potential for artificial intelligence as a technology is otherworldly. The ability for software and systems empowered with AI to make split-second decisions without human oversight is a game-changer for most industries around the world. Based on estimates from UN Trade and Development, the global AI market is projected to skyrocket from a reported $189 billion in 2023 to $4.8 trillion come 2033. That’s a 25X increase in a decade, for those of you keeping score at home.

Nvidia becoming Wall Street’s largest publicly traded company is a reflection of just how dominant its Hopper and Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs) have been in AI-accelerated data centers. With demand for AI-GPUs significantly outweighing their supply, Nvidia has been able to not only sell more GPUs on a year-over-year basis, but also charge a 100%-plus premium to its direct external rivals. Not surprisingly, Nvidia’s gross margin soared as the AI revolution took shape.

Third Point’s billionaire investor might also be excited about Nvidia’s innovation timeline. CEO Jensen Huang expects to bring a new advanced AI chip to market annually. If all goes according to plan, Blackwell Ultra (2025), Vera Rubin (2026), and Vera Rubin Ultra (2027) will follow in the footsteps of Hopper and Blackwell. The key point here is that Nvidia’s compute advantages appear untouchable.

The other factor that’s kept Nvidia humming along is its premier CUDA software platform. This is what developers use to maximize the compute potential of their Nvidia GPUs, as well as to build and train large language models. CUDA is quietly doing a phenomenal job of keeping Nvidia’s clients loyal to its ecosystem of products and services.

But what, arguably, makes this buy intriguing is its timing. For more than three decades, every game-changing innovation has worked its way through an early stage bubble-bursting event. Though artificial intelligence shows plenty of promise, most businesses haven’t come anywhere close to optimizing their AI solutions as of yet. With signs pointing to AI being the next in a long line of bubbles, Nvidia stock could eventually crumble.

Loeb’s buy is also interesting in the sense that it comes as competition in the AI space is exploding. While most investors are paying close attention to direct external competition, the biggest threat to Nvidia likely comes from within. Many of its largest customers by net sales are internally developing AI-GPUs for their data centers. These chips, while inferior on a compute basis to Nvidia’s hardware, are notably cheaper and more readily accessible. They can minimize AI-GPU scarcity, reduce Nvidia’s pricing power and margins, and narrow its future opportunities in AI-accelerated data centers.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if this turned out to be nothing more than a quick trade for Third Point’s chief.

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Stablecoins are enjoying a moment in U.S. policy circles as the Senate just passed a regulation bill with major bipartisan numbers. As that moment approached, President Donald Trump and his family apparently offloaded about 20% of their stake in the parent company controlling World Liberty Financial, a crypto business that includes its own stablecoin.

DT Marks DEFI LLC is a company that now owns about 40% of the holding company over WLFI, down from an earlier 60%, according to the legal disclosures at the bottom of the platform’s website. DT Marks DEFI is “an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump and certain of his family members,” it says.

Trump’s crypto dealings are extensive and have reportedly directly gained him tens of millions of dollars, at least, but they’ve also taken a starring role in the debate over digital assets regulation in the U.S. The stablecoin bill that is now in the hands of the House of Representatives was temporarily stalled in the Senate as Democrats made noise about Trump’s own stablecoin operation.

Despite corruption complaints from lawmakers such as Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and arguments that it’s inappropriate for the president to be taking a hand in the regulation of his own business, the advancement of the bill potentially leaves World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin approaching steadier footing, assuming the company is prepared to comply with rigorous reserve and oversight demands.

While Trump’s political allies and his administration claim his business ties are transparent, the family’s crypto dealings remain murky, without full disclosures of the business stakes of individual members, including the president. It is still unclear what the family’s specific ownership or management involvement may be with World Liberty Financial.

Representatives from WLFI and Trump’s business interests didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from CoinDesk.

And his growing ties to crypto don’t end there. Trump drew the bulk of recent criticism for his hosting of a private dinner for the leading investors in his personal memecoin, many of whom were foreign nationals and went unidentified to the public. The one-time crypto skeptic has sold multiple rounds of non-fungible tokens (NFTs); his media company announced this year it was raising $2.5 billion to build a bitcoin treasury; and son Eric has been helping run a new bitcoin mining venture. There are few corners of the industry the president doesn’t have close connections to.

Read More: Trump’s Empire Pulled In $57M From Family-Linked Crypto Firm Last Year, Filing Shows

Tether has taken a new step in its long-term strategy of diversifying outside its primary stablecoin issuance business.

On June 12, the USDT stablecoin issuer disclosed that it acquired an equity stake in Elemental Altus Royalties, a firm specializing in gold royalties.

According to the firm, on June 10, it secured 78.4 million common shares from La Mancha Investments. This stake accounts for roughly 31.9% of Elemental Altus’ outstanding shares.

Though Tether did not specify the purchase price, the stake is valued at nearly $90 million, based on Elemental’s recent share price of 1.5 Canadian dollars ($1.15), according to Google Finance data.

Tether has also entered into an option agreement with AlphaStream Limited that would allow it to acquire an additional 34.4 million shares. This option, however, cannot be exercised before October 29, 2025, unless otherwise approved by Elemental’s board.

If exercised, Tether’s combined holdings would represent close to 48% of Elemental’s total equity.

Beyond the equity purchase, the stablecoin issuer indicated it may explore further involvement with Elemental’s leadership and governance. Future collaboration could include discussions around long-term capital strategy and operational partnerships, subject to regulatory approval and prevailing market conditions.

Tether deepens gold and Bitcoin commitment

Through Elemental’s royalty and streaming model, Tether gains exposure to gold production without assuming the direct risks tied to mining operations. The company views this approach as an efficient way to link real-world assets to its growing blockchain-based products.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the move reflects the company’s broader strategy to diversify its reserves with traditional assets.

Ardoino said:

“Just as Bitcoin provides the ultimate decentralized hedge against monetary inflation, gold continues to be a time-tested store of value. By gaining exposure to a diversified portfolio of gold royalties through Elemental, we are strengthening the backing of our ecosystem while advancing Tether Gold and future commodity-backed digital assets.”

Over the years, the stablecoin firm has steadily incorporated Bitcoin and gold into its portfolio to help hedge against macroeconomic risks and put profits to work. Tether owns more than 100,000 Bitcoin and nearly 80 tons of physical gold.

He added:

“We believe in financial systems that are backed by real assets, not just promises… tangible assets like Bitcoin and gold will underpin the most durable forms of digital value.”

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