David Tepper Hit Micron at the Perfect Moment. His Fund's Other Holdings Are Also Worth a Look

Appaloosa Management’s Micron position delivered a gain of more than 100%, with Micron up around 122% year to date and more than 55% in the past month after Tepper added roughly 11% in Q1 2026. The article also highlights Appaloosa’s nearly doubled stake in Amazon and a sizeable buy in Uber, framing both as attractive AI-driven relative-value opportunities. Overall, the piece is a bullish endorsement of Tepper’s recent AI and tech bets rather than a new fundamental catalyst.

Analysis

The important signal is not simply that these are “AI-adjacent” buys, but that capital is migrating toward businesses that monetize AI through infrastructure efficiency rather than pure model risk. AMZN and UBER both fit a pattern the market is still underweighting: large fixed-cost operating networks where AI can compress labor, routing, inventory, and cloud waste faster than revenue growth alone would imply. That creates a second-order earnings lever that can re-rate multiples even if top-line growth only modestly accelerates.

AMZN’s setup is more interesting than the headline AI narrative suggests because the market is still discounting capex intensity, yet capex in this case may be a prepayment for margin expansion. If AWS growth re-accelerates while retail automation improves fulfillment economics, the market may start valuing Amazon less like a mature mega-cap and more like a self-funding efficiency compounder. The key risk is timing: investors may have to tolerate 2-4 quarters of heavy spending before operating leverage shows up, so the path likely remains volatile even if the end-state is bullish.

UBER is the cleaner near-term mispricing because the stock appears to be trading as if AV adoption is mainly a disruption threat, when in practice it may be an embedded option on dispatch, utilization, and take-rate optimization. The more AV fleets scale, the more valuable Uber’s demand aggregation and marketplace control become, especially if it can sit on both human and autonomous supply. The contrarian risk is that the market is already partially pricing this optionality, so a disappointing regulatory timeline or slower AV monetization could cap upside for months even if the strategic thesis remains intact.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Initiate a 3-6 month long AMZN position on pullbacks rather than strength; target a re-rating as capex-to-earnings conversion becomes more visible. Risk/reward improves if AWS growth inflects while the market remains focused on near-term spending.
• Buy UBER outright or via call spreads over the next 1-2 quarters; the asymmetry is better than AMZN because the multiple is still low and AV optionality is underappreciated. Use a stop if the stock loses its technical base, since the thesis is partly sentiment-driven.
• Pair trade: long UBER / short a basket of high-capex, lower-ROI megacap tech names that are being punished for spending without a clear efficiency payback. The relative trade benefits if markets continue rewarding operating leverage over raw AI spend.
• For AMZN, consider a staggered entry using 6-12 month call spreads to express upside while limiting drawdown from capex skepticism. This fits a catalyst window where margin evidence should begin to surface over the next several quarters.
• Monitor AV headlines for UBER closely; if autonomous deployment timelines accelerate, add on confirmation rather than anticipation. If regulation slows or OEM partnerships weaken, trim because the incremental upside from the AV option will compress quickly.