Largest U.S. Pension Bought Bloom Energy, Sold Microsoft Stock in the Third Quarter

Calpers took a stake in Bloom Energy through the purchase of 361,883 shares. (Courtesy Bloom Energy)

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, best known as Calpers, is the largest pension system in the U.S. by assets. A recent securities filing shows the agency made key changes to its holdings from the second and third quarters.

Calpers filed a Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 14 showing it took a stake in Bloom Energy through the purchase of 361,883 shares, worth $30.6 million at the time. As of Tuesday’s close, those holdings were valued at around $34.1 million.

Bloom has surged 326% this year, making it one of the hottest energy stocks. The company makes fuel cells that function like batteries, allowing customers to circumvent the grid and avoid regulatory tie-ups. Earlier this year, Bloom struck a deal with Oracle for the use of its technology, only lending to its fame.

Calpers also took a stake in AeroVironment, a maker of drones and autonomous systems whose stock has risen nearly 80% in 2025. The agency bought up 50,332 shares, valued at around $15.8 million at the time. This stake was valued at just over $14 million on Tuesday.

Artificial-intelligence bulls might be relieved to know Calpers doubled down on several AI plays. The agency increased its Oracle holdings by more than 250,000 shares to 3,021,454 shares. The cloud infrastructure provider has come under pressure as investors question its ability to finance its ambitious AI spending plans.

Calpers bulked up its stakes in Meta Platforms, Amazon.com, and Alphabet through purchases of the Google parent’s Class A and Class C shares. The agency also continued to buy Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company by market cap, as it increased its holdings to 66,062,378 shares from 64,728,856 shares in the second quarter.

While the agency largely doubled down on hyperscalers and cloud-computing companies, Calpers shed some Microsoft stock, as it trimmed its holdings to 19,393,311 shares from 21,807,466 shares.

Calpers exited small-cap Acadia Healthcare through the sale of 134,205 shares, worth just over $3 million at the time. Through the end of Tuesday’s session, the stock had fallen 24% from that level.

Calpers manages over $500 billion in assets on behalf of more than 2 million members. As of market close on Nov. 25, the agency’s holdings were valued at $592.37 billion.

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 Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com