Sands Capital Management Q1 2026 13F Holdings and Activity Report

I. Institutional Overview

The institutional portrait of Sands Capital is one of a "Growth Specialist" that is not afraid to let its winners run. With a portfolio date of March 31, 2026, the data reveals an institution that is deeply embedded in the secular themes of the mid-2020s—primarily the artificial intelligence revolution, the digitization of global commerce, and the evolution of next-generation industrial infrastructure. The firm’s scale has remained robust, and its willingness to maintain significant weightings in individual names—some exceeding 10% of the total portfolio—suggests a psychological profile characterized by high confidence and a tolerance for idiosyncratic risk. Unlike more diversified "closet indexers," Sands Capital’s performance is driven by the specific successes of its core convictions.

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II. Sector Allocation Analysis

Perhaps the most interesting signal in the sector data is the nearly 10% allocation to Industrials and 8% to Financials. In a traditional growth portfolio, these are often underweighted. However, Sands’ "Industrials" are not traditional smokestack companies; they are firms like Axon Enterprise and Quanta Services, which provide the physical and digital infrastructure for a safer and more electrified world. Similarly, the Financials allocation is dominated by high-growth payment rails like Visa and Nu Holdings. This suggests a macro judgment that the "physical" side of the AI and digital revolution—power grids, data centers, and digital payment infrastructure—is becoming just as lucrative as the software side.

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III. Top 10 Holdings Deep Dive

The logic for holding NVIDIA at such a high weight is centered on its role as the "foundational architect" of the AI era. As data centers transition from general-purpose computing to accelerated computing, NVIDIA’s H100 and Blackwell chips have become the most valuable commodity in the tech world. Sands is likely betting that the "moat" created by NVIDIA’s CUDA software ecosystem is deep enough to withstand emerging competition. The trim suggests a disciplined "profit-taking" approach, harvesting gains to reallocate into newer opportunities while maintaining a massive core exposure to the AI theme.

The addition suggests a "valuation repair" play. Compared to other "Magnificent Seven" peers, Alphabet has often traded at a more reasonable multiple relative to its cash flow. Sands appears to be leaning into this "Growth at a Reasonable Price" (GARP) opportunity. By increasing exposure, they are betting that Alphabet’s integration of generative AI into its search and cloud businesses will drive the next leg of growth. The weight increase from 4.7% to 5.78% reflects both active buying and positive price action, signaling that Alphabet has moved from a "core allocation" to a "top-tier conviction" name this quarter.

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IV. Major Buys/Additions

Sands is likely making a " growth acceleration bet " here. They recognize that the next phase of AI expansion isn't limited by chip supply, but by the availability of megawatts. By taking a nearly 1% position in Bloom Energy, Sands is positioning itself to profit from the massive capital expenditure being poured into data center power infrastructure. This is a move away from pure "digital" growth into the "hard tech" required to keep the servers running.

The $157 million addition to Spotify (SPOT) is a "conviction increase" in an existing winner. Spotify has successfully transitioned from a "growth at all costs" music streamer to a diversified audio platform with significant pricing power. The 22.07% increase in shares suggests that Sands believes the company’s recent price hikes and cost-cutting measures are sustainable. This is a bet on "operating leverage"—the idea that Spotify can now grow its bottom line much faster than its top line.

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V. Major Sells and Exits

Sands’ motivation here likely falls into the " Profit-taking / Strategic Reallocation " quadrant. By selling nearly 40% of their stake, they are signaling that the "easy money" in Microsoft has been made. They are not necessarily bearish on the company, but they see better risk-adjusted returns in the infrastructure plays mentioned in Section IV. This move reduces the portfolio's exposure to "software-as-a-service" (SaaS) multiples, which may be vulnerable if AI integration doesn't lead to immediate revenue acceleration.

The 33.66% reduction in Broadcom (AVGO) is another example of tactical selling in the semiconductor space. Broadcom has benefited immensely from the demand for AI networking chips (Ethernet switches and custom ASICs). However, like Microsoft, its stock has seen a massive run-up. Sands appears to be rotating out of "networking and custom silicon" (Broadcom) and into "manufacturing equipment and storage" (Lam Research and Seagate). This suggests a belief that the "networking" phase of data center build-outs is maturing, while other bottlenecks are just beginning to be addressed.

This section shows only part of the complete report. View the app for the full analysis, position-level detail, and quarter-over-quarter tracking.

VI. Investment Insights and Risk Warnings

For the past several years, the "Growth" playbook was simple: buy the software and the most famous chip designers. However, Sands Capital’s recent moves suggest that the "smart money" is now looking at the physical constraints of the digital revolution. The massive new stakes in energy generation (Bloom Energy) and data storage (Seagate), combined with the expansion into semiconductor capital equipment (Lam Research), indicate a belief that the next leg of the bull market will be led by the "enablers of scale."

For individual investors, the Sands Capital report offers a valuable lesson in Portfolio Discipline . Even if you are incredibly bullish on a stock like NVIDIA, there is a point where "pruning" is necessary to protect the overall health of your portfolio. Furthermore, Sands’ pivot toward "Infrastructure" serves as a roadmap for the next phase of the tech cycle. While the world is focused on "who will build the best chatbot," the institutional money is focusing on "who will provide the power and storage to run it."

This section shows only part of the complete report. View the app for the full analysis, position-level detail, and quarter-over-quarter tracking.

Sources and limitations

This report uses public U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Form 13F disclosures and structured data maintained by 13F Hub. A 13F filing is a quarter-end snapshot of reportable long positions, is normally published with a delay, and does not disclose every short position, cash balance, bond, derivative, or non-U.S. asset.

Narrative content is prepared from the same-period SEC disclosure and 13F Hub structured data, then checked before publication. This material is for research and education, not personalized investment advice.