In this article, we will discuss the 10 Best Big-Name Stocks to Buy Right Now According to Short Sellers.
In early April 2024, Goldman Sachs Inc.’s data revealed that short selling on individual US-listed stocks was at the highest level in 6 months, and the most targeted sectors were technology, telecom, and media. This increase in short positions was seen after the significant ~9% advance seen in 1Q 2024 for the S&P 500. As per the data, some hedge funds that were using long-short equity strategies have started to fight the rally.
During extreme market volatility, short selling has become pronounced and has drawn significant interest from institutional and retail investors. It has prompted regulatory intervention as new reporting requirements have been issued by the SEC to offer transparency and ensure the availability of short position data.
Recent Trends in Short Selling
In the 2Q 2024, the US and Canadian markets saw an increase of ~$58 billion in short interest or a rise of 5.1% from the previous quarter.
Recently, S3 Partners, a renowned tracker of short-interest data, reported that the sectors that saw the largest increases in short exposure in 2Q 2024 included information technology (a rise of $49.3 billion), communication services (at $11.2 billion), and utilities (a rise of $3.7 billion) from the previous quarter. The sectors that saw the largest decrease in short exposure were the energy and financial sectors, down $12.3 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively.
Earlier in 2024, a significant surge in the leading AI giant resulted in losses of ~$3 billion for the short sellers. Some market experts even described this as an “AI-generated nightmare.”
In global equities, short interest climbed during July 2024, with strong increases seen throughout the Automobile (+13bps), REITs (+11bps), and Consumer Durables (+11bps) sectors, reported S&P Global. On the other hand, the largest decreases were in the Financial Services (-10bps) and Real Estate Management and Development (-4bps) sectors.
Talking about the US equities, the average short interest decreased to 77 basis points during July 2024. Significant increases in short interest were seen throughout REITs (+6 basis points) and the Household and Personal Products (+8 basis points) sectors. Conversely, the largest declines were in the Financial Services (-15 basis points) and the Automobile (-9 basis points) sectors.
Heavily Shorted Stocks Might Not Always Be in Distress, Says S3 Partners
S3 Partners revealed that there is a relatively weak correlation between short positions in certain assets and distress measures. This means that not all heavily shorted stocks are facing difficulties. As per the firm, broader market sentiments and valuation concerns are some of the factors that can drive short interest.
The company believes that shorting an asset can form part of broader strategies or hedging activities not linked to distress. It mentioned that there can be 3 measures of bearishness for stocks —- average analyst ratings (From 1 to 5), Credit default swap (CDS) spreads, and Altman Z-Score.
For example, the US Dollar had a low short position of ~1.32%. However, it had a high CDS spread of 1000 basis points. This indicates high perceived distress on the currency even though there is minimal short interest. This can be because of factors such as currency market dynamics or investor sentiments.
With that, let’s take a look at the best big name stocks to buy now according to short sellers.
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Our methodology
To list 10 Best Big-Name Stocks to Buy Right Now According to Short Sellers, we used the Finviz screener to filter out the big names. Next, we narrowed our list by choosing the ones having low short interest. The stocks are ranked in descending order of their short interest. We also mentioned the hedge fund sentiment for each stock, which was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database of over 900 elite money managers, as of Q2 2024.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
10 Best Big-Name Stocks to Buy Right Now According to Short Sellers
10) Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 108
Short % of Shares Outstanding (August 15, 2024): 2.98%
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) produces semiconductor products and devices. Its product categories include microprocessors, embedded microprocessors, chipsets, graphics, video, and multimedia products. It also supplies these products to third-party foundries and provides assembling, testing, and packaging services.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) announced the definitive agreement to acquire privately held ZT Systems for $4.9 billion. This is expected to act as a growth enabler for Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) over the long term as this will provide the company with expertise in artificial intelligence infrastructure systems and services.
The PC market is now recovering. International Data Corporation (IDC) mentioned that the PC market saw a 3% YoY increase in the second quarter. This was after an increase of 1.5% in the first quarter. This recovery should get stronger in the future as a result of the growing buzz around artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled PCs. Therefore, this growth is expected to help Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)’s client processor business.
Next, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is expected to benefit from inorganic growth as it has made some promising acquisitions, which should strengthen its AI prospects. For example, in August, the company wrapped up the acquisition of Silo AI, a deal which was valued at $665 million. The company now aims to offer end-to-end AI solutions to customers due to Silo AI’s expertise in developing large language models (LLMs).
Wells Fargo & Company increased its price objective on shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) from $190.00 to $205.00, giving it an “Overweight” rating on 11th July.
Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is a global semiconductor chip maker specializing in central processing units (CPUs), which are considered the core component of most computing devices, and graphics processing units (GPUs), which accelerate operations running on CPUs. We invested in 2018 when it was a mid-cap value stock plagued by many years of underperformance due to lagging technology and lost market hi share versus competitors Intel and Nvidia. Our research identified that changes and investments made by current management under CEO Lisa Su had, over several years, finally resulted in compelling technology that positioned AMD as a stronger competitor to Nvidia and that its latest products were superior to Intel’s. We invested on the the belief that AMD’s valuation at that that time did not reflect the potential for its technology leadership to generate significant market share gains and improved profits. This thesis has been playing out for several years. During the quarter, AMD unveiled more details about its upcoming GPU products for the AI market. The stock reacted positively to expectations that AMD’s GPU servers will be a viable alternative to Nvidia. Although we pared back our exposure to AMD into strength as part of our risk-management practice, we maintained a position in the stock. We believe AMD will continue to gain share in large and growing markets and is reasonably valued relative to the potential for significantly higher earnings.”
9) Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71
Short % of Shares Outstanding (August 15, 2024): 1.54%
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is a membership warehouse club. It sells all kinds of food, automotive supplies, toys, hardware, sporting goods, and apparel, among other goods.
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is expected to have strong revenue and earnings for the upcoming years due to its cost advantage, scale, and membership program. The company provides fewer products as compared to other retailers, simplifying supply chain logistics and procurement. Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)’s attractive product assortment and low prices should continue to act as growth enablers. These advantages can also help in driving strong traffic through its warehouses.
Apart from these facts, the company’s vast scale and merchandising strategy provide a significant cost advantage in the crowded retail environment. Recently, Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) announced its first membership fee hike in nearly 7 years. This price rise has now become effective. The change should result in a significant earnings boost for the company. It also revealed that this will impact ~52 million paid memberships.
The company released 3Q 2024 financial results. Its net sales for the quarter went up by 9.1% to $57.39 billion from $52.60 billion last year. Net sales were positively impacted by approximately 0.5% to 1.0% from the shift of the fiscal calendar, due to the fifty-third week last year. Overall, its results were characterized by the expansion of its digital initiatives and the success of its curated marketplace, Costco Next, together with a healthy increase in membership fee income.
Robert W. Baird upped their target price on the shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) from $850.00 to $975.00, giving it an “Outperform” rating on 11th July. As per Insider Monkey’s 2Q 2024 database, 71 hedge funds reported owning stakes in the company.
ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its second quarter 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“Consumer staples holdings were also standouts in the quarter, such as Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST), which continues to execute well and delivered better than expected earnings, helped by strong traffic driving better expense leverage. Customers also looked to be shifting toward more discretionary purchases.”
8) Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 107
Short % of Shares Outstanding (August 15, 2024): 1.18%
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) operates as a diversified software company worldwide. It operates via 3 segments: Digital Media, Digital Experience, and Publishing and Advertising.
The company’s long-term visibility for increased revenue stems from its competitive advantages, such as switching costs and network effects. Its digital media segment benefits from significant switching costs. Critical products such as Creative Cloud and Document Cloud are integral to users’ workflows. This makes it difficult for users to switch to other solutions.
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)’s shift to a subscription model tends to eliminate piracy and makes revenue recurring, apart from removing the increased upfront price for customers. This subscription-based model (SaaS) will help in achieving a steady and predictable revenue stream. Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) continues to extend its empire in the creative world from content creation to marketing services. This is happening through the expansion of the digital experience segment. This segment is expected to drive growth in upcoming years.
The company released its 2Q 2024 financial results, achieving record revenue of $5.31 billion as a result of strong growth across Creative Cloud, Document Cloud, and Experience Cloud. For 3Q 2024, it expects total revenue in the range of $5.33 billion to $5.38 billion and earnings per share of between $3.45 to $3.50.
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) highlighted the positive reception of the generative AI models, like the Firefly family, and Acrobat AI Assistant. These were the critical drivers in enhancing creativity and productivity for users.
Mizuho reissued a “Buy” rating on the shares of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE), giving the price target of $640.00 on 7th June.
Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“With Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE), in some ways, we see it as a microcosm of the market’s “shoot first, ask questions later” approach to categorizing AI winners and losers. In the early part of last year, Adobe came under pressure with a perception that generative AI (GenAI) would represent a material headwind to their suite of creative offerings. In short order, the company introduced its GenAI offering, Firefly, which shifted the narrative to Adobe as a beneficiary with a real opportunity to monetize GenAI in the near term. Earlier this year, that narrative was again challenged as the company reported a slight slowdown in revenue growth. Results in the most recent quarter were robust as the company raised its full-year forecast across a number of key metrics and showcased better-than-expected results.”
7) AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 67
Short % of Shares Outstanding (August 15, 2024): 1.14%
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is a pharmaceutical company with strong exposure to immunology and oncology.
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s next-generation immunology drugs, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, continue to generate sufficient growth to offset biosimilar pressure on the firm’s older immunology drug, Humira. The immunology drugs, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, appear to be well-placed for growth given the leading efficacy in several large immunology indications. They both have patent protection into the early/mid-2030s. Further, its strong aesthetics business (led by Botox) offers long product cycles as a result of brand power and physician entrenchment.
Considering the limited patent losses, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) should post mid-single-digit sales growth over the upcoming 3 years. Also, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is expected to see the benefits of the recent acquisition. Its $10 billion acquisition of ImmunoGen led to the addition of Elahere to its oncology portfolio. Elahere, which is an antibody-drug conjugate, should top $2 billion in sales by the end of the decade, as per Barclays.
In 1H 2024, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)’s operational sales went up by ~4% in 1H 2024, with significant contributions from the immunology and oncology segments. For FY 2024, the company is increasing its adjusted diluted EPS guidance from $10.61 – $10.81 to $10.71 – $10.91. The company announced the acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics recently for ~$8.7 billion. As a result of this acquisition, the company will now be able to expand its presence in the neurological disorders space.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley initiated the coverage on the shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV). They increased the price target on the company’s shares from $211.00 to $218.00, giving an “Overweight” rating on 12th August. As per Insider Monkey’s 2Q 2024 data, 67 hedge funds were long AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV).
Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its second quarter 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“In the second quarter, the top relative contributors to the Portfolio’s performance were all names we do not hold: Home Depot, Meta Platforms, and AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV). AbbVie fell on the back of results that failed to allay concerns around continuing biosimilar threats to its very large, blockbuster arthritis drug, Humira, which went off patent last year.”
6) Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 130
Short % of Shares Outstanding (August 15, 2024): 1.09%
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) offers semiconductor products. It provides cable modems, filter amplifiers, networking processors, storage adapters, motion control encoders, optocouplers, and other related products.
The boom in data center construction, as there is a pressing need to harness power for several Al applications, should continue to benefit Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO). It continues to see elevated demand for its high-performance connectivity solutions and server storage products. This trend is reflected in its 2Q 2024 results, with revenue from Al products surpassing ~$3 billion. Apart from this, the company’s results were supported by the increased adoption of VMware cloud software stack solutions.
In its 2Q 2024 results, the company highlighted that its infrastructure software revenue accelerated, with more enterprises adopting its VMware software stack to develop their own private clouds.
Moving forward, Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)’s potential for revenue and earnings growth stems from the intangible assets in chip design along with switching costs for software products. It offers diversified investment opportunities across both semiconductor and software. The company’s Al opportunity appears to be broad and spans across networking and computing. The integration of VMware product SKUs, together with a simplified go-to-market strategy, continued to support its 2Q 2024 results. The company signed up ~3,000 of its top 10,000 customers for VMware products.
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) raised its FY 2024 guidance for consolidated revenue to $51 billion and adjusted EBITDA to 61% of its revenues. Analysts at Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of the company from $156.60 to $204.50. They gave a “Buy” rating on 13th June.
Mar Vista Investment Partners, LLC, an investment management company, released second quarter 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“During the quarter, we established new investments in Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) and Meta Platforms. We initiated a position in Broadcom in Q2. As a skilled aggregator, Broadcom acquires firms, streamlines their operations, and invests R&D dollars in mission critical products that generate industry leading profit margins, robust cash flows and high returns on invested capital. Its primary markets include AI accelerators targeting generative AI applications, networking & wireless semiconductors, and mission-critical infrastructure software solutions.
Broadcom is well-positioned to benefit from the rapidly expanding demand for custom AI accelerator chips that support the evolution of the generative AI market. The company is the second-largest producer of AI accelerator chips behind Nvidia and leads the market in custom AI ASIC chips. Its customers include leading hyper scalers like Alphabet and Meta who are turning to Broadcom for custom silicon due to its performance and cost advantages. We believe the company is a direct beneficiary of a multi-year capital cycle driven by hyper scalers building out next-generation AI factories.
Broadcom recently acquired VMware, the leader in virtualization software targeting the enterprise market. The integration of VMware is tracking ahead of plan as management has simplified its product bundles, transitioned to a subscription revenue model, and reduced operating costs. We believe this simplified go-to-market structure will result in strong top-line revenue growth and expanding operating margins. We believe Broadcom will compound intrinsic value per share in the mid-20% range over the intermediate term as it benefits from the AI-infrastructure build-out, a cyclical recovery in its legacy semiconductor business, and modestly accelerating growth from its infrastructure software business as VMware is successfully integrated.”
5) Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68
Short % of Shares Outstanding (August 15, 2024): 1.06%
Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is a leading global IT services firm, which provides consulting, strategy, technology, and operational services.
Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is expected to benefit from sticky clientele. Notably, high switching costs demonstrate that its clients, primarily those with larger contracts, will not switch providers. This gives the company healthy revenue visibility. The company continues to focus on inorganic growth opportunities and has a history of growing through acquisitions.
Recently, it purchased Excelmax Technologies in India. This should help Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) boost its silicon design and engineering capabilities. Next, it acquired True North Solutions, an industrial engineering solutions provider in Canada. This will help the company’s clients transport energy safely and more efficiently.
Also, Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is well-placed to benefit from the current AI wave. It can help in the development and implementation of large language models for generative AI and the identification of business data. Wall Street analysts are optimistic about its acquisition of Cientra, which is a silicon design and engineering services company providing custom silicon solutions for global clients. This should complement Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)’s expertise in microprocessor design.
For 4Q 2024, the company expects revenue in the range of $16.05 billion and $16.65 billion, with 2% to 6% growth in local currency. Its operating cash flow for FY 2024 is expected between $9.3 billion and $9.9 billion.
UBS Group upgraded the shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They gave a price target of $400.00 on 19th July.
Aoris Investment Management, a specialist international equity manager, released its Q2 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“The largest detractors for the quarter were Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) and CDW Corp, which both fell by around 14%. Accenture and CDW are currently experiencing flattish years in terms of revenue and earnings growth. This follows a period of post-pandemic elevated demand. We believe both companies continue to gain market share.
Accenture is the world’s largest IT outsourcing and consulting company. While earnings in its quarter ended May was essentially flat, we were very encouraged by underlying demand. This demand strength is reflected in a 22% year-on-year increase in client bookings for the quarter. Further, the number of $100m+ contracts signed in the nine months to May was 92, up from 85 in the same period a year earlier. All this bodes well for Accenture’s revenue and earnings in the next few years.”
4) Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 92
Short % of Shares Outstanding (August 15, 2024): 0.81%
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) operates as a financial holding company. It offers saving accounts, deposits, mortgage and construction loans, cash and wealth management, certificates of deposit, investment funds, online banking services, and other related services.
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is expected to see strong earnings and revenue growth over the coming years mainly due to the switching costs it has created and the advantages that come from lower customer acquisition costs. On the consumer side, the banking company can cross-sell multiple products, offering advantageous pricing to key customer segments. It can also spread its overall costs of customer acquisition across revenue streams.
Also, the company enjoys a broad reach. This means that Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC)’s scalability enables it to acquire deposits cheaply which are sticky. In 2Q 2024, the company was able to add ~278,000 net new consumer checking accounts in the Consumer Banking business. This was the 22nd consecutive quarter of growth. Its CET1 ratio came in at 11.9% (Standardized), which was 122 bps above the new regulatory minimum.
In 2Q 2024, its revenues, net of interest expense, came in at $25.4 billion, reflecting an increase of $180 million, or 1%. This was mainly because of higher asset management and investment banking fees. Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) continues to focus on organic growth via strategic investments in its core businesses.
Analysts at Barclays increased their price target on the shares of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) from $43.00 to $49.00, giving it an “Overweight” rating on 17th July. As of Q2 2024, 92 hedge fund holders had stakes in the company.
ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its first quarter 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“We added several new positions during the quarter. Our largest new addition was Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving some 66 million consumer and small business clients across the U.S. as well as large corporations, financial institutions and governments globally. We believe that the interest rate pressure that Bank of America faced in early 2023 has subsided, and risks surrounding deposit outflows have abated, which should allow the company to improve its book value and capital growth as well as benefit from a rebound of capital markets activity.”
3) Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 184
Short % of Shares Outstanding (August 15, 2024): 0.80%
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) designs a variety of consumer electronic devices, including smartphones (iPhone), tablets (iPad), PCs (Mac), smartwatches (Apple Watch), AirPods, and TV boxes (Apple TV), among others.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s long-term outlook is supported by its competitive advantages, which include high customer switching costs, intangible assets, and network effects around its iOS ecosystem. The company provides an expansive ecosystem of tightly integrated hardware, software, and services, which locks up the customers. Ultimately, this helps in generating strong profitability. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s move to in-house chip development accelerated its product development and increased differentiation.
Wall Street analysts believe that a higher mix of premium products, such as iPhone Pro models, should help improve product gross margins moving forward. Regarding AI, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is all prepared to make a massive push to the industry, given its release of iPhone 16 and the launch of Apple Intelligence, which is a generative overhaul of the operating systems. Apple Intelligence is an exciting development and Apple is on the cusp of an iPhone upgrade super cycle.
This new AI platform is expected to bring generative features throughout the company’s product lineup. These include a major upgrade to Siri, image, and language generation tools. Therefore, the company’s interconnected ecosystem should continue to act as a tailwind.
In 3Q 2024, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) released 3Q 2024 financial results, with revenues reaching $85.8 billion, up 5% YoY, and earnings per diluted share touching $1.40, up 11% YoY. Its strong financial performance demonstrates the continued innovation and growth in critical areas like AI and machine learning.
The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on the shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) from $265.00 to $275.00, giving it a “Buy” rating on 2nd August.
Mar Vista Investment Partners, LLC, an investment management company, released its second quarter 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“Investors were reminded of the strength of the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) ecosystem as management demonstrated how generative AI solutions would be integrated into Apple’s 1.2 billion iPhone installed base. Apple plans to integrate generative AI features into its iOS 18, which will be broadly released in the fall with the iPhone 16. We believe Apple should benefit from generative AI as it will spur a meaningful iPhone upgrade cycle and create new avenues of monetization through its app store and advertising offerings. We believe this will support intrinsic value growth that will range between high-single-digits and low-double-digits over our investment horizon.”
2) Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 308
Short % of Shares Outstanding (August 15, 2024): 0.77%
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is an online retailer, offering a wide range of products. Its products include books, music, computers, and numerous other products. The company also operates a cloud platform offering services globally.
The company’s Prime business, together with its e-commerce efforts, offers a steady stream of high-margin recurring revenue from the customers purchasing more frequently from its properties. Given its leadership position in cloud infrastructure, AWS provides crucial services throughout industries. As more and more businesses adopt cloud-based solutions, AWS seems to be well-placed to capture a significant share in this high-growth market.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) should also benefit from the expected rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve. Even the slightest reduction in borrowing costs should support the consumer purchasing power. Therefore, the rate cuts can act as a growth catalyst for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s e-commerce segment.
Moreover, the company is well-placed for long-term growth given its network effects, cost advantages, intangible assets, and switching costs. While Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s business has intangible assets related to technology and branding, the company also has a cost advantage that is tied to purchasing power, logistics, and vertical integration.
Insider Monkey’s 2Q 2024 data revealed that 308 hedge funds held stakes in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), up from 302 in the preceding quarter.
Diamond Hill Capital, an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2024 investor letter and mentioned Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Here is what the fund said
“Among our top individual contributors in Q2 were Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Texas Instruments and Mr. Cooper Group. Internet retail and cloud infrastructure company Amazon is benefiting from strong profitability, particularly in its Amazon Web Services (AWS) business. Shares also received a boost amid growing optimism around the demand for AWS as Amazon customers’ investments in generative AI projects continue growing.”
1) AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 49
Short % of Shares Outstanding (August 15, 2024): 0.27%
AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) is a global science-led biopharmaceutical company, focusing on the discovery development, and commercialization of prescription medicines.
AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) seems to be well-placed for long-term growth given the patent-protected drugs and the developing pipeline. Also, the strong replenishment of new drugs should act as a critical tailwind. Notably, the smart strategic decisions on drug pricing and product governance are expected to support the company’s revenue growth.
AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) continues to focus on lowering the liability risks associated with its portfolio as it focuses more on life-threatening diseases with acute treatment. The company’s top line is expected to be supported by the drugs which are less probable litigation targets.
Strong pricing power concerning AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)’s portfolio of drugs should continue to act as a core pillar for the leading pharmaceutical giant. As we know, pricing dynamics tend to have a significant impact on public access to basic healthcare services, and this company enjoys a history of fair US price increases when it comes to its oncology portfolio.
AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) upgraded its full-year guidance to mid-teens percentage increases in both total revenue and core EPS. This reflects its underlying business strength. The critical growth drivers include positive phase 3 trial results, new drug approvals, and healthy performance seen across major markets like the US, Europe, and China.
Analysts at TD Cowen upped their target price on the shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ: AZN) from $90.00 to $95.00, giving it a “Buy” rating on 12th August. As per Insider Monkey’s 2Q 2024 database, 49 hedge funds held stakes in AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN).
Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its second quarter 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“Performance in pharmaceuticals and health care distributors was bolstered by solid gains from AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) and McKesson Corporation, respectively. AstraZeneca is a global biopharmaceutical company with a focus on three main therapy areas based on its core competencies: oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and respiratory illnesses. AstraZeneca’s shares increased given incremental positive news flow (LAURA, ADRIATIC, and DESTINY-Breast06 clinical trials) surrounding the oncology franchise. The company also published long-term guidance for the first time, projecting $80 billion in revenue by 2030, or 75% higher than 2023’s $45.8 billion. This projection implies an annual growth rate of 8% over seven years, compared with the 5% to 7% targets set by GSK and Johnson & Johnson and the 5% target set by Novartis.”
While we acknowledge the potential of AZN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than the ones mentioned on our list but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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