By Carolina Mandl

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Global hedge funds last week dumped the so-called Magnificent Seven megacap stocks, bringing their exposure to the group to a two-year low just ahead of their earnings, according to a Morgan Stanley note to clients seen by Reuters.

The bank said the Magnificent Seven stocks accounted for more than 60% of the total dollar amount sold by hedge funds between Monday and Wednesday last week, indicating portfolio managers are not very positive about the companies’ prospects.

Elon Musk’s electric vehicle maker Tesla kicks off the Magnificent Seven’s earnings season on April 22, followed by Alphabet two days later.

All the Magnificent Seven stocks – which also include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and Meta – are underperforming the S&P 500 index in 2025, with Alphabet down about 22% and Tesla off 44%.

Overall, investors are cutting back their Magnificent Seven bets. A BofA survey showed that, while the megacap companies were considered the most crowded trade by almost 60% of investors, now only 24% see them as such. Currently, gold is considered the most popular trade by 49% of the respondents.

Hedge funds also sold shares in the healthcare insurance, aerospace, defense, biotech, hotels, restaurants and leisure sectors last week, Morgan Stanley added.

(Reporting by Carolina Mandl in New York; Editing by Jan Harvey)