Whale Rock Capital Management, the technology-focused hedge fund led by Alex Sacerdote, significantly increased its exposure to a trio of artificial intelligence infrastructure companies during the first quarter, while trimming its position in chip giant Nvidia, according to a report by Barnhart.
Regulatory filings show the firm established sizeable new stakes in Advanced Energy Industries, Viavi Solutions and MKS Instruments, with the combined value of the purchases reaching approximately $910m.
The investment activity points to a broader shift in positioning among some technology investors, away from the most crowded AI trades and toward companies supplying the underlying infrastructure supporting next-generation computing and data centre expansion.
Whale Rock allocated roughly $394m to MKS Instruments, around $336m to Advanced Energy Industries, and close to $180m to Viavi Solutions.
The three businesses operate across different parts of the semiconductor and networking ecosystem, but all are positioned to benefit from growing demand linked to AI-related capital expenditure.
Advanced Energy Industries, headquartered in Colorado, develops precision power conversion and control systems used in semiconductor manufacturing and hyperscale data centres.
The company has seen strong momentum as demand for AI computing infrastructure accelerates.
Arizona-based Viavi Solutions provides network testing, optical technologies and communications equipment used by telecom operators, cloud providers and defence customers.
The company has emerged as a beneficiary of increasing investment in high-speed connectivity and AI-driven network upgrades.
MKS Instruments benefits from semiconductor investment cycle
Massachusetts-based MKS Instruments supplies semiconductor manufacturing technologies including photonics, lasers, vacuum systems and process control solutions.
The company is viewed as a major participant in the AI infrastructure buildout due to its exposure to advanced chip manufacturing and high-performance computing supply chains.
Whale Rock’s latest positioning highlights a growing investor focus on the less visible parts of the AI supply chain.
While Nvidia and other mega-cap technology firms remain central to the AI narrative, infrastructure suppliers involved in power systems, networking equipment and semiconductor manufacturing are increasingly attracting attention as the scale of AI-related capital spending expands.
