While retail investors were busy arguing about Tesla Inc. (TSLA) headlines during the third quarter, some of the world's most prominent money managers were quietly making their moves. And according to freshly released 13F filings, they were definitely not all on the same page.
The quarterly disclosures paint a picture of Wall Street's elite split right down the middle. One camp was heading for the exits, while the other was pouring hundreds of millions into Tesla shares just before the stock took off on its massive year-end rally. Someone got this very right, and someone got it very wrong.
The Bulls Load Up
Leading the charge was Cathie Wood of ARK Invest, who doubled down on her famously bullish Tesla thesis by adding a hefty 512,158 shares during the quarter. For Wood, this wasn't a new bet but a reinforcement of her long-standing conviction that Tesla is more than just a car company. Apparently, she saw Q3 as a buying opportunity.
And here's where it gets interesting: with Tesla stock up roughly 37% since the Q3 average price of $346, those 512,000 shares are likely sitting on a paper gain north of $65 million. Not bad for a few months' work.
Wood wasn't alone. Andreas Halvorsen of Viking Global Investors picked up 509,497 shares, coming in a close second. Then there's Renaissance Technologies, the legendary quantitative hedge fund, which added 424,490 shares to its position.
What makes this buying spree particularly noteworthy is the diversity of investment styles represented. You've got Wood's aggressive growth approach, Halvorsen's fundamental value picking, and Renaissance's sophisticated algorithmic strategies all converging on the same conclusion. When investors with completely different playbooks all show up on the same side of a trade, it tends to mean something.
The Bears Make Their Exit
Of course, not everyone was buying the Tesla story in Q3.
Peter Thiel emerged as the most prominent bear, unloading 207,613 shares during the period. It's a sizable exit, though notably less than half the volume that any single one of the top three buyers accumulated. Still, Thiel's decision to reduce exposure stands in stark contrast to the bullish moves happening elsewhere.
A couple of other legendary names also trimmed their positions. Ray Dalio sold 19,413 shares while George Soros offloaded 3,209 shares. But these were relatively modest reductions compared to the hundreds of thousands of shares flowing into the portfolios of the bulls.
What It All Means
When you tally up the moves, the institutional vote in Q3 wasn't particularly close. Yes, some high-profile investors were heading for the exits, but the combined firepower of Wood, Halvorsen, and Renaissance Technologies tells a different story. The smart money was heavily tilted toward accumulation.
And with Tesla trading near its 52-week high of $488.53 after closing at $478.94 on Tuesday (up 0.76%), the bulls are looking pretty smart right now. The bears who sold in Q3 missed one of the stock's most explosive runs in recent memory.
It's a reminder that even among Wall Street's elite, there's rarely unanimous agreement. But when the dust settles and the returns come in, someone always looks smarter than everyone else. This quarter, that honor belongs to the believers who bought when others were selling.