Coatue Bought $655M of ASML and Trimmed Nvidia for the 11th Quarter

On May 15, 2026, Coatue Management filed its Q1 2026 13F. Philippe Laffont’s hedge fund initiated a new $655.4 million stake in ASML Holding, the Dutch monopoly maker of EUV lithography machines, increased Applied Materials by 79%, added 6.9% to Taiwan Semiconductor, and trimmed Nvidia for the 11th time in 12 quarters. The shape of the rotation is unusually clean. Coatue keeps moving down the semiconductor supply chain, away from the most-owned name and toward the equipment that makes it possible to manufacture that name’s chips.

Key facts at a glance

• A new $655.4M ASML Holding position was initiated, equal to 496,234 shares, per the Q1 2026 13F on SEC EDGAR.
• Nvidia was reduced for the 11th time in 12 quarters, a pattern detailed in Motley Fool coverage of the filing.
• Applied Materials was increased by 79%, taking the position to 3.85% of the portfolio.
• Taiwan Semiconductor was increased by 6.9%, now sitting at 6.56% of the book.
• Microsoft was increased by 11.4%, now 6.25% of the book.
• The combined moves shift Coatue further into the upstream semiconductor stack, equipment and foundry, and away from the dominant downstream chip name, per TheStreet’s coverage.

Who is Coatue

Coatue Management is the hedge fund founded by Philippe Laffont in 1999. Laffont is one of the so-called Tiger cubs, alumni of Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management. The fund is technology-focused, runs a long-short book, and has both public-equity and venture sides. Coatue’s quarterly 13F reflects only the public long-equity sleeve.

The fund has been a public AI bull for several years. Its Q1 2026 filing does not contradict that posture. It refines it.

What the 13F actually shows

The Q1 2026 13F continues a multi-quarter rotation that has been visible to anyone tracking Coatue’s filings in a row.

The Nvidia trim and the ASML initiation are not the same trade, but they are part of the same thesis. Nvidia is the dominant AI compute name. ASML is the only company in the world that makes the extreme-ultraviolet lithography machines required to manufacture the most advanced semiconductors. Coatue is reducing its exposure to the name that captures the most attention while increasing exposure to the upstream chokepoint that makes the entire stack possible.

Why this matters

Two angles are worth reading carefully.

First, the ASML bet is “picks and shovels for the picks and shovels.” Standard AI commentary calls Nvidia the picks and shovels of the AI gold rush. Coatue’s filing reads ASML as the supplier of the picks and shovels that Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor themselves depend on. The position is concentrated by design at $655M. It is not a small reconnaissance trade.

Second, the serial Nvidia trim is a multi-quarter pattern, not a one-off rebalance. Coatue has trimmed Nvidia in 11 of the past 12 quarters. That is unusual for a hedge fund that remains publicly bullish on AI infrastructure. The most likely reading is portfolio management: Nvidia is too large a position to maintain without trimming as it appreciates. The less likely reading is a thesis change. The 13F by itself cannot distinguish between the two.

Third, the Applied Materials add at +79% reinforces the upstream tilt. Applied Materials sells semiconductor equipment alongside ASML, with different process steps but a similar customer base. Adding both in the same quarter is consistent with a deliberate equipment-vendor overweight.

What this 13F does not tell you

A Coatue 13F has more blind spots than a typical long-only fund’s filing.

• No short book. Coatue runs a long-short strategy. Any hedge against Nvidia, or any short against a competing AI name, is invisible on the 13F.
• No private positions. Coatue’s venture book holds large stakes in private AI companies. None of those show up in the 13F.
• No options or derivative overlay. A long position in ASML can sit alongside an options structure that changes the economic exposure significantly.
• No timing. The ASML initiation could have come at the start of January or the end of March. The 13F shows position size at quarter-end, not the cost basis.
• No commentary on Nvidia conviction. Eleven trims in twelve quarters tells a pattern, but the 13F does not say whether Laffont is bearish on Nvidia, neutral, or simply disciplined about position-sizing.

How this fits with Coatue’s other recent positioning

The cleanest reading across multiple quarters is that Coatue is constructing a “full semiconductor stack” portfolio with deliberate weighting at each layer: equipment (ASML, Applied Materials), foundry (Taiwan Semiconductor), hyperscaler customers (Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet), and chip designers including Nvidia, but with active size discipline at the top of the stack.

FAQ

Why does ASML matter?

ASML is the only company in the world that makes extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines. Taiwan Semiconductor, Samsung, and Intel all need ASML’s machines to manufacture their most advanced chips. That dependency makes ASML a structural chokepoint in the AI supply chain.

Did Coatue exit Nvidia?

No. Coatue has trimmed Nvidia repeatedly, but the position remains in the book. The pattern is reduction, not exit.

Is this an AI bet or a semiconductor bet?

The two are increasingly the same trade. ASML, Applied Materials, and Taiwan Semiconductor are not consumer-electronics-driven anymore. Their growth is tied to the AI training and inference build-out at hyperscalers.

Is Coatue still bullish on AI?

The position mix points to yes. The fund is concentrating on upstream AI infrastructure rather than rotating away from AI. The shift is within the trade, not out of it.

How big is the Coatue book?

Public-equity sleeve size is disclosed quarterly through the 13F. The Q1 2026 filing reflects only the long-only portion. The fund’s total assets, including venture, are larger and not disclosed at this level of detail.