Whale Rock AI Fund Loses Half Its Gains in July

Whale Rock Capital Management saw its flagship hedge fund drop by 21.7 percent in July. The rough month cut the fund's yearly gains roughly in half. The Boston based firm, run by Alex Sacerdote, watched its year to date return fall to 35.1 percent through July, down from 72.5 percent at the end of June.

The losses came as artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks suffered a broad market pullback. Whale Rock loaded up on chipmakers and infrastructure plays earlier in the year, riding a massive rally. When sentiment shifted in July, stocks like SanDisk, Bloom Energy, and CoreWeave took heavy hits. Mega cap tech names also saw minor declines as investors started questioning the sheer scale of ongoing artificial intelligence spending.

Other funds felt the squeeze too, highlighting a broader cooling trend across the sector this summer. Some market watchers compare the pullback to the dot com era, while others view it as a healthy buying opportunity. Traders should watch upcoming tech earnings reports to see if the market regains its footing or if the summer slump continues.