(Bloomberg) — It turns out that billionaire investor David Tepper, who recently said he would buy “anything” related to China amid the Beijing stimulus, is cutting his exposure to e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. scaled back in the third quarter.
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Tepper’s Appaloosa management cut its stake in Alibaba by 5% in the three months through September, according to a 13F filing published Thursday. However, Alibaba remains the hedge fund’s largest holding, accounting for 16% of its $6.7 billion equity portfolio.
Tepper also has exposure to the iShares China Large-Cap exchange-traded fund, the KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF and Baidu Inc. returned. At the same time, however, Tepper has more than doubled his stake in PDD Holdings and his positions in JD.com Inc. and KE Holdings Inc., the filing showed.
That contrasts with what Tepper said during a CNBC interview in September, when top Chinese officials stepped up efforts to revive growth, fueling a rally in China’s stock market.
“Everything. ETFs, I would do futures – everything. Everything,” Tepper said during the network’s interview in September, when asked which Chinese stocks he is buying because of the policy change.
Overall, however, Tepper’s exposure to Chinese stocks and ETFs increased to 38% of his equity portfolio in the third quarter, up from 26% in the three months through June.
An email sent to Tepper after business hours seeking comment was not immediately returned.
China’s top officials stepped up efforts in September to revive growth with promises to shore up budget spending and stabilize the troubled real estate sector. The move sparked a frenetic rally that sent the CSI 300 Index soaring 30% and the Nasdaq Golden Dragon Index of US-listed China soaring 40% within weeks.
Read: David Tepper is buying ‘everything’ related to China due to Beijing’s softening
Tepper, along with Scion Asset Management’s Michael Burry, is one of the few prominent Chinese stock bulls among hedge fund investors. In the second quarter, Tepper largely held on to his Chinese businesses acquired earlier this year, even as he reduced exposure to Alibaba.
Burry, the hedge fund manager known for his 2008 bet against the U.S. housing market, further increased his stake in Chinese companies including Alibaba in the third quarter — while adding new bearish options that would provide downside protection.
