While July reflected a shift in market strength for stocks across the S&P 500 and technology-heavy indices, the overarching theme was investors moving away from AI infrastructure spending toward AI monetization. This signified investor scrutiny as to whether the massive spending on AI is starting to pay off. In leveraged semiconductor bets, a similar unwind took shape with investors trimming borrowed risk rather than exiting AI exposure entirely. For global hedge funds, this translated into less about reducing risk and more about refining it, according to Data Insights, the institutional hedge fund market intelligence platform, a division of Hazeltree.

​The Data Insights Crowding Report July 2026 (formerly known as the Hazeltree Crowding Report) shared that, within the Magnificent Seven, Tesla and Amazon experienced modest increases in the number of funds holding long positions month-over-month, while Apple, Meta and Nvidia experienced meaningful declines. Apple, Meta and Nvidia saw increases in short holders, while Microsoft and Tesla saw decreases.

​Semiconductors held steady interest from hedge funds following the half-year mark. Data Insights track activity through the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index™, which includes 30 of the largest U.S.-traded semiconductor companies. The share of constituents holding net long positioning held at 70%, unchanged from June. Two securities that demonstrated contrasting shifts included:

  • Intel, which flipped from short-biased to long-biased in July as net long exposure crossed above 50%, while its long-to-short fund count ratio also improved toward parity.

  • Marvell moved in the opposite direction, slipping from long-biased to short-biased.

On the long side, crowding remained most pronounced in Applied Materials, followed by Lam Research and Nvidia. On the short side, ON Semiconductor remained the most crowded name, followed by Microchip Technology and Intel.

The Data Insights Crowding Report provides a look back at hedge fund long and short crowding across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC during July of 2026, based on Data Insights’ analysis of anonymized data from approximately 16,000 securities on its proprietary securities‑finance platform, representing more than 700 global funds. It includes the ten most crowded regional long and short positions, broken out by large-, mid-, and small-cap categories.​

​Data Insights defines the crowding score as a relative metric that normalizes the number of funds in Hazeltree’s community that are long or short a given security within a predefined group (by region and market cap) relative to its peers. When a fund longs a stock, it generally means it either expects the stock’s price to rise or is using longs to hedge its exposure to shorts. On the contrary, when a fund shorts a stock, it generally means it either expects the stock’s price to drop or is hedging its long exposure.

​“Last month, we observed global hedge funds navigating the market rotation with measured adjustments rather than broad de-risking,” commented Tim Smith, managing director, Data Insights, Hazeltree. “We believe that as investors considered AI securities, they may have given more weight to fundamental considerations such as earnings, revenue growth and commercialization.”

​Smith added, “One of the biggest IPOs and security stories this year continues to be SpaceX, and we noted its long-to-short fund count ratio declined meaningfully from 2.8 in June to 0.55 in July, along with a falling stock price of 31% from July 1 to July 31.”

Further Highlights at the Single-Name Level

​North America: Top Movers (>10% MoM Change in Fund Counts)

​Long crowding increases

  • Mid Cap: Darling Ingredients, Monday.com, EXL Service, Patterson-UTI and Kirby

  • Small Cap: Hanmi Financial

  • Note: Meta, Nvidia and Mastercard from the Large Cap group, Etsy, Paylocity and Armstrong World Industries from the Mid Cap group, and Kemper, DoubleVerify and Adient from the Small Cap group saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in long fund counts.

​Short crowding increases

  • Large Cap: Nebius

  • Mid Cap: Whirlpool, Core Scientific and Repligen

  • Small Cap: Ziff Davis, PureCycle and Enovix

  • Note: Charter Communications, from Large Cap, saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in short fund counts.

EMEA: Top Movers (>10% MoM Change in Fund Counts)

​Long crowding increases

  • Small Cap: Savills, Galliford Try and Forterra

  • Note: Rolls-Royce and AIB from the Large Cap group, Centrica, IMI, Drax Group and Johnson Matthey from the Mid Cap group, and Atalaya Mining and AMG from the Small Cap group saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in long fund counts.

​Short crowding increases

  • Large Cap: Bayerische Motoren Werke

  • Mid Cap: Stora Enso and Weir Group

  • Small Cap: Yellow Cake, Vivendi, Bytes Technology Group and Kinnevik

Note: Diageo, Legal & General Group, Universal Music Group and Kering from Large Cap, Alstom, AUTO1 Group, Sodexo and IMCD from Mid Cap group, and Energean from Small Cap group saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in short fund counts.

APAC: Top Movers (>10% MoM Change in Fund Counts)

​Long crowding increases

  • Mid Cap: BNK Financial Group and TPG Telecom

  • Small Cap: Ennoconn, Wisdom Marine Lines, Genusplus Group, Arcadyan, SRG Global and Champion Iron

Note: Sony, Murata, Hitachi, Renesas and Hana Financial Group from the Large Cap group, NSK, Li Ning, Rinnai and Mengniu from the Mid Cap group, and K’s Holdings from the Small Cap group saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in long fund counts.

Short crowding increases

  • Small Cap: Minerals 260 and Lotus Resources

Note: Ibiden, Toyota and Nippon Steel from the Large Cap group, Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Japan Steel Works, Mercari, Zensho Holdings and Kadokawa from the Mid Cap group, and Hutchmed and Temple & Webster from the Small Cap group saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in short fund counts.

​To view the Data Insights Crowding Report July 2026 and past reports, click here.

​Methodology

The Data Insights Crowding Report is based on anonymized and aggregated positioning data from Hazeltree’s proprietary securities‑finance platform, which reflects trading activity from its hedge fund client base of more than 700 global funds. It calculates the crowding score by sector and region (Americas, EMEA, and APAC) and analyzes both long and short crowding during July 2026.

​Note to editors: To be added to the distribution list for this report, please contact btanner@hazeltree.com.

​About Data Insights – A division of Hazeltree

Data Insights, a division of Hazeltree, provides proprietary market intelligence derived from anonymized positioning data across a global community of hedge funds. Through its flagship Data Insights Crowding Report and other analytical offerings, the team delivers insights into long and short positioning, market trends and investor sentiment to help financial institutions, market participants and the media better understand evolving investment dynamics. For more information, visit https://hazeltree.com/product/insights.

About Hazeltree

Hazeltree is the leading provider of treasury and liquidity management and optimization solutions purpose-built for the alternative investment industry. Trusted by more than 700 investment firms managing over $4 trillion in assets, Hazeltree empowers hedge funds, private markets firms, and asset managers to enhance operational efficiency, reduce risk, and unlock alpha. Hazeltree’s cloud-based platform facilitates nearly $8 billion in daily transactions across more than 10,000 funds. By delivering seamless connectivity across counterparties and service providers, Hazeltree enables clients to optimize cash, credit facilities, margin, and fees—driving stronger returns and greater transparency across the investment lifecycle. Hazeltree is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Bournemouth, and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.hazeltree.com.

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