REUTERS/Mark Meyer
- Alaska has ramped up its bet on Nvidia by more than 50-fold since early 2017.
- The state's revenue department commanded a $142 million stake in the chipmaker at the end of June.
- Alaska's position peaked at 466,000 shares in 2020, a stake worth $212 million today.
Alaska has boosted its Nvidia wager by more than 50 times within the past seven years, giving it a stake worth $142 million at the end of June, a Markets Insider analysis shows.
The state's revenue department first reported a position in the microchip maker in the first quarter of 2017, Securities and Exchange Commission filings show. Adjusted for Nvidia's 4-for-1 stock split in July 2021, it owned fewer than 7,000 shares at the time, worth less than $200,000.
The agency ramped up its bet to a split-adjusted 281,000 shares, worth $16 million, by early 2018. The position peaked in size at the equivalent of 466,000 shares in the second quarter of 2020 — a $44 million stake then that would be worth $212 million today.
Alaskan officials have gradually pared the holding since then, to 337,000 shares worth $142 million at the end of June. But the state still counted the semiconductor giant's stock among its largest positions last quarter, which included $400 million-plus stakes in Apple and Microsoft.
The state agency also invested in Tesla as early as the first quarter of 2017, SEC filings show. It commanded a $380 million stake in Elon Musk's electric-vehicle company as of June 30.
Nvidia, Tesla, Microsoft, and other Big Tech stocks have surged in value this year, as investors wager the companies' artificial-intelligence efforts will supercharge their profits. In particular, Nvidia shares have more than tripled in value within the past seven months, and now trade at record highs.
Growth stocks have received a boost from improved market sentiment too. Investors have cheered a drop in inflation from a 40-year high of 9.1% to 3% over the last 12 months. Many are now hoping the Federal Reserve will stop hiking interest rates, and the US economy will escape a recession.
The total value of Alaska's stock portfolio declined slightly to just below $4.4 billion last quarter. The state relies on oil taxes and royalties, federal funding, and investments to finance its spending, as it doesn't tax personal incomes or sales.