Billionaire Investor David Tepper's $180M Investment in Intel in Q2 is Already Up 58%

Billionaire investor David Tepper is known for his aggressive trading style. As the founder of the Appaloosa Management hedge fund, Tepper has made a fortune with his contrarian calls and bets on the debts of distressed assets.

During the '08 financial crash that drove down the value of banks to record lows, Tepper was heavily investing in these distressed assets. As an opportunistic fund manager, he purchased almost $2 billion (£1.5 billion) worth of commercial mortgage-backed securities at face value from AIG. Soon after, he profited by $7 billion (£5.2 billion) on the trade after the US government stepped in to save the banks.

He founded Appaloosa in 1993 with $57 million (£42.6 million) in capital. The portfolio returned 57% in the first six months and continued to succeed by investing in the debt of troubled firms like Worldcom and Enron. Tepper has a personal net worth of $23.7 billion (£17.7 billion), according to Forbes.

Tepper's Appaloosa had completely offloaded its investments in Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) by Q1 2025. He has been selling the stock consistently since Q2 2024.

However, in Q2 2025, he added the company back to his portfolio, purchasing 8 million shares worth around $180 million (£134.7 million) at an average buying price of $22.56 (£16.89) per share.

The stock price was $35.63 (£26.68) as of Tuesday's close, implying that Tepper's investments in Intel are already up by 58% in a span of a few months.

The struggling chipmaker's turnaround was marked by the US government's $11.1 billion (£8.3 billion) investment in August in exchange for a 10% stake. The Trump Administration's investment is also now worth over $16 billion (£11.9 billion). The Intel stock price has gained over 75% in the past six months.

The US government investment triggered an explosive stock rally, which was further bolstered by Nvidia's (Nasdaq:NVDA) announcement that it would invest $5 billion (£3.7 billion) in Intel and co-develop AI chips for PCs and data centres. The rally continued amid reports claiming that the company is in early discussions with its long-time rival, Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq:AMD), about adding AMD as a foundry customer.

Meanwhile, Intel also attracted major investors, including a $2 billion (£1.4 billion) private placement with SoftBank. The company's multiple backings helped it rebound after shares hit their lowest in over a decade earlier this year. Furthermore, Intel's fiscal 2024 saw the stock price tank 60% in value, which was followed by former CEO Pat Gelsinger's exit in December.

The White House also celebrated Intel's stock price recovery. US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a recent celebratory post on the social media platform X: 'GENIUS: Trump's Intel Investment Skyrockets 50% in One Month.'

According to analysts polled by TipRanks, Intel has the highest 12-month stock price target of $43 per share (£32.2), implying further potential upside for Tepper's investment. However, the majority of the analysts had a 'hold' rating on the stock.

In Q2, Tepper also purchased over 1.4 million shares of Nvidia, 190,000 shares of Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN), but trimmed Appaloosa's stake in Alphabet (Nasdaq:GOOG), Meta Platforms (Nasdaq:META), and Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT).

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