Whale Rock Capital Administration’s flagship hedge fund fell 21.7% in July. The drop lower its 2026 features roughly in half as synthetic intelligence and semiconductor shares offered off.
Whale Rock’s year-to-date return dropped to 35.1% by way of July. That’s down from 72.5% on the finish of June, an individual accustomed to the matter advised Bloomberg. Alex Sacerdote runs the Boston-based, $19 billion agency.
A Tough Month for AI Stockpickers
Whale Rock’s long-only fund fell 18.8% in July however nonetheless holds a 36.8% achieve for the 12 months. The agency marks its twentieth anniversary in 2026. It rode a chipmaker rally by way of the primary half of the 12 months, however situations reversed sharply in July.
Regulatory filings present Whale Rock added to its stakes in SanDisk and Bloom Power throughout the first quarter. Each names tumbled in July alongside CoreWeave. All three fell sufferer to a broader reminiscence sector selloff that hit chip and AI infrastructure shares hardest.
The injury unfold past semiconductors. Mega-cap names like Google and Meta additionally noticed minor declines in July. In the meantime, buyers grew cautious of continued AI spending. That concern echoes a broader warning that the market now trades as one AI guess.
Not the AI Business’s Solely Casualty
Whale Rock wasn’t alone in taking successful. Leopold Aschenbrenner’s Situational Consciousness fund posted a 67% loss final month. That marked the sharpest hedge fund drawdown of July, following a pressured unwind of its inventory guide.
The reversal suits a sample taking part in out throughout Wall Road’s AI commerce this summer season. Some strategists examine it to the dot-com period. Others, nonetheless, see the pullback as a shopping for alternative, not the beginning of an extended bust.
Whale Rock’s August efficiency might hinge on the present earnings season. Investor sentiment towards AI infrastructure spending will seemingly resolve whether or not the fund stabilizes or extends July’s losses.
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