Ed Lin

The second-largest public pension in the U.S. recently bulked up on some stock investments -- including two volatile names.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System materially increased holdings in quantum-computing firm D-Wave Quantum and social-media firm Trump Media & Technology stock in the first quarter. Calstrs, as the pension is known, also added to positions in Maplebear -- which does business as Instacart -- and United Airlines Holdings in the period.

Calstrs disclosed the stock trades, among others, in a form it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Our public equity portfolio uses passive and active strategies," Calstrs said in an emailed statement to Barron's. "The portfolio's holdings can change for many reasons, including managers rebalancing exposure to desired active or index weights or due to corporate actions, such as a company merger, stock split, name change or similar activity. The Form 13F is a simple compilation of quarterly trades and should not be taken as investment strategy or used for investment advice."

Calstrs' assets totaling about $351.6 billion as of April 30, making it the second-largest U.S. pension by assets.

D-Wave stock dropped 9.5% in the first quarter, compared with a 4.6% slip in the S&P 500 index. So far in the second quarter shares have rocketed 115% while the index is 5.3% higher.

In early May, shares soared after D-Wave reported strong first-quarter revenue. CEO Alan Baratz described the quarter as "arguably the most significant in D-Wave's history." Still, the company isn't profitable.

Calstrs bought 211,672 more D-Wave shares in the first quarter to end the period with 218,931 shares.

The pension bought 21,004 more Trump Media shares to lift its holdings to 95,463 shares as of the end of March.

The parent of the Truth Social platform saw shares slip in the past week after the company announced it would raise $2.5 billion to buy Bitcoin. Barron's noted that the move could lower the stake of President Donald Trump's family to less than 50% from 52%, meaning the Trump family could be outvoted on issues.

Trump Media stock dropped 43% in the first quarter, and so far in the second shares are up 9.2%.

Instacart stock slipped 3.7% in the first quarter, and since March shares are up 14%.

In early May, Instacart lost CEO Fidji Simo to OpenAI, who is leaving to take the CEO post of the artificial-intelligence firm, and report to Sam Altman. On May 28, Instacart named Chris Rogers CEO, effective Aug. 15. Simo will remain chair of the board, "helping to ensure a smooth transition," Instacart said in a press release.

Calstrs bought 41,893 more Instacart shares to lift its stake to 138,456 shares at the end of the first quarter.

The pension bought 91,626 additional United Airlines shares to end March with 115,788 shares.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in the past week that flying out of Newark Liberty International Airport -- which has become synonymous with air-traffic issues -- this summer will be a bargain. Also in the past week, United Airlines reached a deal with JetBlue Airways, paving the way for United to resume flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.

United Airlines stock dropped 29% in the first quarter, and so far in the second shares are up 15%.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron's feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members -- so-called insiders -- as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Ed Lin at ed.lin@barrons.com

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June 01, 2025 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT)

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