Altimeter Capital has reportedly exited its significant position in Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), with founder Brad Gerstner stating Tuesday that the social media giant is not currently a market leader in artificial intelligence (AI).

Speaking on CNBC’s “Halftime Report,” Gerstner revealed why Meta was conspicuously absent from his top holdings list for 2026.

Altimeter originally invested in late 2022, riding the stock’s surge from roughly $90 a share to over $700 as the company embraced efficiency—a strategy Gerstner had publicly championed.

However, Gerstner argued Meta is now facing a “tough transition” to leverage AI. While acknowledging the company’s recent efforts, including rebooting its AI lab, he was blunt about its current standing relative to competitors.

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“The fact of the matter is, they’re not market leaders today in AI,” Gerstner said. While he sees Meta as a “huge beneficiary” of the technology, he prefers to deploy capital into companies with lower multiples and clearer immediate growth catalysts in this “stock pickers market.”

Altimeter has shifted its focus heavily toward the “picks and shovels” of the AI boom. Gerstner’s largest bets now sit with infrastructure plays like Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM), and cloud provider CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV).

He argued investors are still “underestimating” the scale of the AI supercycle. Gerstner noted that major tech companies spent $150 billion on CapEx in 2023 to build out data centers, a figure projected to surpass $500 billion in 2026.

“That’s not speculative. That is purchase orders. Those are buildings. That’s power,” he asserted.

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Addressing his top holding, Gerstner defended Nvidia against concerns it has run too far.

With consensus estimates predicting 65% earnings growth this year, he argued the stock’s current multiple of around 25 times earnings is “not demanding.”

Altimeter doesn’t need multiple expansions to hit its return targets, he said; they just need the company to deliver its expected earnings.

Shares of META have declined by 8.04% over the last six months but risen 6.92% over the year. On Tuesday, the shares rose 0.28% to $660.62 apiece and fell 0.21% after-hours.