NEW YORK, Feb 9, 2026, 04:29 EST
- Ken Griffin and Cliff Asness, both hedge fund billionaires, picked up Palantir shares during the third quarter, according to a report.
- Comfort Systems, a contractor known for its data-center cooling work, picked up new positions from Israel Englander and Steven Cohen.
- The selections highlight the AI trade’s reach extending past chip stocks, moving into software and infrastructure as well.
Ken Griffin of Citadel and AQR’s Cliff Asness both picked up Palantir Technologies shares in the third quarter, according to a Monday report. The same analysis noted that Israel Englander and Steven Cohen increased holdings in Comfort Systems USA. Since January 2023, Palantir has surged close to 2,000%, while Comfort Systems is up roughly 970%. 1
The timing of the purchases—going back to the third quarter—isn’t really the point. What’s grabbing attention is the message behind them. Investors are still hunting for AI exposure, trying to avoid shelling out for the usual chip heavyweights.
The search has moved beyond semiconductors—now it’s not just chipmakers, but also firms providing the software that drives AI, or the hardware that keeps data centers humming. Cooling, power, construction—these pieces are unavoidable in the AI conversation, Wall Street’s preferences aside.
Palantir climbed roughly 4.5% ahead of the open. Comfort Systems jumped 7%. Robinhood Markets—noted for its retail focus and AI angle—surged about 14%. Nvidia and Broadcom both advanced about 7% in premarket action.
Palantir provides analytics tools to both corporate and government clients, centering its offerings on a so-called “ontology”—basically, a framework that links data so it can be used and acted upon. The company’s been touting its AIP platform as a way to develop “AI agents,” software programs designed to execute tasks from natural-language instructions. According to the same report, shares changed hands at about 214 times earnings—a lofty multiple that leaves little room for missteps. 2
Comfort Systems, a building-services contractor, handles design and installation for HVAC and electrical setups. The report highlights its work outfitting data centers—especially with air conditioning and immersion-cooling tech, as AI operations crank up heat. Shares are trading around 52 times earnings. 2
Palantir’s leadership has been vocal about what they see as a unique corporate culture driving the firm’s success, not just its technology. “It’s crazy to me… that neither India nor China has an enterprise software company that’s competitive on the world stage,” Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar told The Times in an interview published on Sunday. 3
In a Motley Fool article posted on Nasdaq back in late January, it was noted that Griffin’s Citadel added 388,000 shares of Palantir and another 128,100 Robinhood shares during the third quarter. The same piece called Robinhood’s “Cortex” a generative-AI assistant built to condense news and research for users, and included a quote from CEO Vladimir Tenev, who said prediction markets were “really on fire.” 4
Still, the reports themselves rest on backward-looking filings—these only reveal fund positions at the end of the previous quarter. Hedge funds, quick on their feet, may have changed course well before anyone gets to read the disclosures. High valuations could become a problem too, especially if AI budgets pull back or data-center timelines get pushed.
Quarterly 13F filings offer a peek at how major money managers are positioning themselves, and investors comb through them for any sign of shifting bets. But these reports are just a snapshot, not real-time intel. Anyone lulled by the AI trade’s momentum has learned that the hard way.
