Largest US pension fund sells Apple, Intel, NIO and Li Auto shares

The largest public pension fund in the United States has recently reduced its positions in high performing stocks in its portfolio.

The California Public Employees Fund (Calpers) sold shares of iPhone maker Apple (ticker: AAPL), chip giant Intel (INTC) and Chinese electric car makers NIO (NIO) and Li Auto (LI) in the first quarter. Calpers, as the fund is known, reported the stock trades in a form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Calpers does not comment on individual trades. It manages $455 billion in assets.

Apple shares soared 27% in the first quarter, compared with a 7% rise in the S&P 500 index. So far in the second quarter, the stock is up 6.2%, while the index has gained 2%.

Apple reported a strong fiscal second quarter earlier this month, which lifted the stock price. Sales of iPhones were higher than expected. The company will be launching a virtual reality headset. Shares of Apple and other huge tech companies boosted the S&P 500 index.

Calpers sold 7 million shares of Apple in the first quarter, giving it 36.4 million shares at the end of March.

Calpers sold 1.1 million shares of Intel in the quarter, reducing its stake to 9.8 million shares.
Intel shares didn't get a sustained boost from a strong first-quarter earnings report in late April. Intel CFO David Zinsner said the company still faces a difficult macro environment, but the general outlook for PC demand matched their expectations during the quarter. Intel this month unveiled its strategy to win more chip manufacturing orders to counter Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM).

Intel's stock rose 24% in the first quarter and is up 9.2% so far in the second quarter.

U.S. certificates of deposit of Chinese electric car makers NIO and Li Auto are up 7.8% and 22%, respectively, in the first quarter and down 23% and 17%, respectively, so far in the second quarter.

NIO's underperformance compared to Li Auto is not surprising. In its recent fourth-quarter reports, NIO delivered a disappointing performance in early March, while Li Auto exceeded expectations in late February. Li Auto also outperformed its competitor in car sales in March and then again in April.

Calpers, however, missed out on Li Auto's ADR increase in the second quarter as it exited the position. The fund owned 1.1 million Li Auto ADRs at the end of 2022, but no longer owned any at the end of March.

Calpers also reduced its position in NIO, selling 390,806 ADRs to own 2.2 million at the end of March.