Morning briefing · Wed, Jun 17
Quantum is bleeding out while the smart money already moved on
Quantum computing stocks are down hard this week and today. The funds that matter were never really there. The rotation already happened, and most retail investors missed the exit sign.
Quantum computing as a theme is down 6.87% today and 8.26% over the past week. The individual names are worse. $RGTI is off 9.07% today and nearly 17% on the week. $QBTS dropped 8.83% today and 33.57% over the week. That last number is not a correction. That is a theme unraveling.
Here is what is really going on underneath those numbers. Look at the 13F filings, which are the quarterly reports that show what big professional funds actually own. Situational Awareness LP (Leopold Aschenbrenner's fund, one of the sharpest AI-focused investors in the game) holds $SMH, $NVDA, and $ORCL. Altimeter Capital (Brad Gerstner, an early and aggressive AI bull) is 28.6% in $NVDA. Coatue Management (Philippe Laffont's tech-focused hedge fund) owns $TSM and $AVGO.
Not one of them has a quantum name in their top three positions.
The narrative that quantum is the next AI trade never had the institutional backing to make it real. Robotics fell 8.01% today too, but at least that theme is up 3.73% on the week. Quantum has no such cushion. The funds got out, or never got in. The market is catching up to that fact right now.
*When the sharpest funds in the AI trade have zero quantum exposure, a 33% weekly drawdown in $QBTS is not a buying opportunity, it is a consensus arriving late.*