In this article, we will take a look at the 10 best tech stocks to buy according to Brad Gerstner.
Gerstner is Bullish on Tech in 2024
On December 1, 2023, Brad Gerstner, the CEO of Altimeter Capital, appeared in an interview on CNBC where he explained that tech stocks are expected to outperform non-tech stocks in 2024. Over the past 10 years, tech earnings have compounded at almost 16% and non-tech earnings have compounded at 6%. 2023 was a rebound year for the tech industry after a downturn in 2022 due to rising interest rates. Big Tech companies and their operational efficiencies have poised them for strong growth. While inflation and interest rates will determine what goes down, companies that have invested in augmented intelligence will experience secular growth. Gerstner thinks that the spread between 16% and 6% will be a recurring trend in 2024.
Gerstner Thinks Now is the Right Time to Invest in Tech
On June 11, Brad Gerstner made another appearance on CNBC and addressed the speculation surrounding the software industry. Gerstner suggested that despite headwinds, the software industry is still valuable as companies and startups are still making deals. Gerstner believes there are three main reasons for the downward trajectory of the software industry. He thinks that CEOs and CTOs are cautious when it comes to making investments in software. Executives want a clearer picture of the AI boom before making risky investments. Moreover, interest rates are higher than expectations, due to delayed rate cuts and compressing multiples. Lastly, general uncertainty about the future has been detrimental to the growth of the software industry. Gerstner pointed out that since the software industry is trading at 20% below its ten-year average, this may be the best time to allocate stakes in software companies. You can also take a look at the best Robinhood stocks under $20.
Gerstner thinks data and databases are extremely vital to AI applications. He thinks that companies using data to power AI are far ahead of companies simply automating services. Big Tech companies have data at the forefront of all their artificial intelligence applications. You can also read our piece on the stocks hedge funds are crazy about right now.
Brad Gerstner is bullish on tech, and particularly software and AI. In Q1 2024, he initiated 6 new positions and also raised his stakes in 2 stocks, ending the quarter with a portfolio of $6.5 billion in 13F securities. With that, let’s discuss his top tech stock picks.
Brad Gerstner of Altimeter Capital
Our Methodology
We scanned Altimeter Capital’s Q1 portfolio and picked growth stocks from the fund’s top 13F holdings. Additionally, we’ve also added overall hedge fund sentiment, as of Q1 2024. Why are we interested in 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).
Note: All pricing data is as of June 28.
10 Best Tech Stocks to Buy According to Brad Gerstner
10. Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG)
Altimeter Capital’s Stake Value: $70,570,173
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 66
Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) is Brad Gerstner’s 10th largest holding. Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) is an e-commerce company based in South Korea and Washington. The company has more than 100 unique fulfillment centers that have millions of products. Coupang’s AI enables fast deliveries, volume order production, and system coordination. Its automated guided vehicles (AGVs) can bring hundreds of items to workstations within 2 minutes or less, reducing employee workload by 65%. The company is also home to a rapidly growing fleet of electric vehicle Coupang Cars, accounting for 50% of the company’s fleet in Jeju, South Korea.
While software companies are experiencing decelerating growth rates, Gerstner holds a positive outlook on the industry and expects companies with data at the forefront of software and AI to stand out. In the words of Brad Gerstner, “Smart money, I think, is to buy into software.” Aligning with his views, Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) is making conscious use of AI to advance its operations and deliver enhanced customer experiences.
At the close of Q1 2024, 66 hedge funds were bullish on Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG), with total stakes amounting to $3.09 billion. Wall Street analysts hold a consensus buy opinion on CPNG. Shares have gained 34.08% year-to-date. Based on price targets from 18 analysts, the Street’s median price target of $27.69 implies an upside of 31% from current levels.
9. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Altimeter Capital’s Stake Value: $103,663,363
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 74
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is the 9th largest holding of Brad Gerstner, accounting for 1.59% of his portfolio. Gerstner increased his position in the stock by 277% from the previous quarter. The company is making strides in autonomous driving. The FSD V12, a fully autonomous vehicle, has driven over 300 billion miles. The FSD chip, developed by TSLA, is an AI inference chip capable of running Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) autonomous vehicle software. The company is also actively working to advance its core AI infrastructure and AI compute, by doubling its training in AI and compute compared to the previous quarter. The Tesla Bot, a general-purpose humanoid robot can perform a variety of mundane and monotonous tasks.
Overall, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was held by 75 hedge funds with total stakes amounting to $4.95 billion. Analysts hold a consensus Buy opinion on TSLA and the Street-high target of $310 implies an upside of 57% from current levels. On May 7, Brad Gerstner appeared in an interview on CNBC, where he discussed the future of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and its exemplary position in AI and data. Gerstner likes Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) competitive advantage in AI and self-driving and believes it’s “underappreciated”. Here are some comments from the interview:
“Well, first, let me say I think Elon has done an extraordinary job, and I think his advantage in A.I. and full self-driving relative to all the other manufacturers in the world is deeply under appreciated. A ChatGPT moment for self-driving after ten years of marginal improvements, we had a profound breakthrough around imitation learning I think that will be an incredible asset to the company.”
He then discussed how companies need to have enough supporting data to compete with Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), which is quite challenging at the moment. Here are some additional comments from the interview:
“I don’t think it’s an asset that can be replicated by other OEMs. Unless you have the data, you’re going to have a very hard time catching Tesla in full self-driving I don’t think BYD will be able to play in that game either.”
8. PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD)
Altimeter Capital’s Stake Value: $205,521,979
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 76
PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) ranks eighth on our list of the best tech stocks to buy according to Brad Gerstner. The stock makes up 3.15% of Gertsner’s portfolio. The company is a multinational commerce group that owns Temu and Pinduoduo and holds a 20% market share in China’s e-commerce industry. While Pinduoduo is one of the most prominent online agriculture platforms in China, Temu is rapidly expanding as an e-commerce platform in the United States and Europe. PDD Holdings is creating an ecosystem of cheap products and an exemplary consumer-to-manufacturer model. In the first quarter of 2024, PDD Holding’s total revenue reached RMB 86.8 billion, a 131% increase year-over-year. To expand its offerings, the company is cooperating with leading brands from across the globe.
In 2020, the company’s vice president of strategy and local shared some insights on their work for the agri-tech sector. The company is committed to inculcating technology in agriculture by empowering farmers. Here are some comments from Andre Zhu:
“We’re giving the farmers a tech toolbox so they can actually take the guesswork out of the planting and reap the benefits of technology. You know (the) Chinese agriculture (working) population is expected to decline”
In its latest earnings release, the company stated that it will remain committed to its foundation, which is agriculture. They expect to support agriculture technology innovation by launching its fourth smart agriculture competition and its second Duo Duo Academy. In Spring, the company partnered with over 1,000 agri-based regions to find and add more quality agri products to their platform. PDD Holding’s agriculture cloud initiative is now gaining momentum in major agri-producing regions including Anhui, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Shandong.
Baron Funds is also bullish on the stock as it allows customers to buy in bulk directly from manufacturers. Here are some comments from Baron Funds’ Q4 2023 investor letter:
“We added to our digitization theme by building a position in PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD), a leading Chinese e-commerce platform. Founded in 2015, the company has emerged as China’s second largest e-commerce player, capturing approximately 20% market share. In our view, PDD’s competitive moat lies in its team purchase model that facilitates bulk buying through direct partnerships with manufacturers, thereby eliminating intermediaries (e.g., distributors and middlemen) and lowering costs. Key factors driving the company’s meteoric growth include rising consumer demand for affordable products in China amid an economic slowdown, small-scale merchants seeking alternatives to Alibaba, and superior management execution. PDD’s revenue growth outpaces gross merchandize value growth owing to rising take rates as merchants aggressively compete for consumer traffic on the platform. In our view, PDD should continue to gain market share given its dominance in the value-for-money segment, growing affordable branded product offerings, and high operational efficiency. We believe the company’s growth will be further supported by the recent launch of its international e-commerce platform, Temu, which has become one of the fastest growing apps globally. Leveraging China’s excess manufacturing capacity, Temu has strong negotiating power with domestic suppliers and attracts global consumers with competitively priced products. Temu’s recent initiatives to improve unit economics, coupled with achieving variable breakeven in the sizable U.S. market, showcase management’s skill and commitment to sustained growth. We expect PDD to at least double its earnings and free cash flow in the next three years, with the potential for continued compounding thereafter.”
Overall, 76 investors were bullish on the stock at the end of Q1 2024, with total stakes amounting to $5.79 billion. PDD is attractive at current levels. The stock is trading 12 times its forward earnings, a discount of 27% from its sector P/E, and analysts expect earnings to expand by 84% this year and 139% in 2025.
7. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Altimeter Capital’s Stake Value: $271,887,676
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 302
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) ranks seventh on our list of the best tech stocks to buy according to Brad Gerstner. Gerstner increased his position in the stock by 21% in the first quarter of 2021. Amazon Web Services (AWS) revenue expanded by 17.2% in Q1 2024, up from 13.2% in Q4 2023. Amazon claims the growth in generative AI has fueled demand for AWS, as customers are excited to try out new features to enhance their experience. Over the next 2 decades, the company anticipates developing Generative AI products from scratch and on the cloud. Overall, capital expenditures by the company amounted to $48.4 billion in 2023 and $14 billion in Q1 2024. For 2024, the company plans to invest $10 billion to establish two data centers in Mississippi. This is the single largest investment made in the state and will create over 1,000 jobs. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) also intends to invest over $5.3 billion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and more than $5 billion in Mexico over the next few years. The investment is all0cated to launch new infrastructure regions and provide better choices for end users.
Overall, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) is one of the most popular stocks among investors, with 302 hedge fund holders at the close of Q1 2024, up from 293 positions in Q4 2023. Total stakes amounted to $60.37 billion. Based on median price targets from 65 analysts, the stock has an upside of 11%, from its current price of $197.85. Analysts hold a consensus Buy opinion on AMZN and the stock has surged 32% year-to-date.
Gerstner likes Amazon because of the company’s inclination to efficiency and meaningful expenditure on software. On February 2, Brad Gerstner appeared in an interview on CNBC, where he shed light on his bullish stance on AMZN. He emphasized the role of Amazon Web Services (AWS) in uplifting the stock. He believes that Amazon’s dominant position in retail will benefit from AI as the company would be able to focus on targeted ads. Here are some comments from the interview:
“I give a tremendous amount of credit to Andy Jassy and the team there they’re the market leader in cloud. We talk about them as coming from behind. They have a dominant retail business which is going to benefit from AI, from better targeting, better targeting of ads, and merchandise, and I think Jassy will drive efficiency in that business. Aws is the market leader I was concerned and some others were whether or not Microsoft’s early lead and their relationship with OpenAI would force them to leave Amazon and go to Azure to take advantage of the benefits of Openai we didn’t see that we saw almost no customer churn.”
6. Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT)
Altimeter Capital’s Stake Value: $396,622,751
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 37
Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT), a system software company, is the sixth largest holding on Brad Gerstner’s portfolio. Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) specializes in data streaming and helps companies analyze data as it is generated in real time across various platforms such as mobile devices and social media.
The company became the first to commercialize Apache Kafka, an open source real time data analytics software used by companies like Uber to match drivers to passengers whenever a trip is requested. Today, Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) has many high-profile clients like Expedia and Vimeo, that use its services to facilitate travel booking and video streaming on their platforms. The company continuously adds newer features to its platform to help customers manage large amounts of real time data streams and execute their core business operations.
Confluent’s (NASDAQ:CFLT) cloud revenue hit $107 million, up by 45%, accounting for the majority of its subscription revenue. Earlier this month, the company launched Build with Confluent, which helps enhance the efficacy of data streaming use cases by increasing speed. The new partner program also includes specialized software bundles that help customers develop solutions together more efficiently. Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) is not limited to providing data streaming applications. The company’s Connect and Govern products, products part of its data streaming platform (DSP), are gaining momentum in the industry. The revenue growth for Govern has been the fastest for any of the products launched by Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT). The company expects its cloud revenue to hit $116 million, a growth rate of 39%, year-over-year, in the second quarter of 2024.
Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) is part of a rapidly growing industry. According to a survey by the company, 86% of IT leaders suggest that data streaming was a priority investment for them in 2024, indicating the need for real-time data use cases and applications. Overall, Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) is popular among investors. At the close of Q1 2024, 37 hedge funds held positions in the stock, with total stakes amounting to $949.63 million. The stock has surged 30% year to date and analysts’ median price target points to a further 22% upside.
5. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Altimeter Capital’s Stake Value: $694,133,306
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 293
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is among Brad Gerstner’s top 5 stock picks. The stock accounts for nearly 11% of Altimeter Capital’s 13F portfolio. The company’s overall growth in the quarter was driven by the demand for Microsoft Cloud, which logged $35 billion in revenue, up by 23% year-over-year. Microsoft Azure remained a top pick among customers. Over 65% of the Fortune 500 companies and more than 30,000 organizations use Azure OpenAI Service and more than 30,000 organizations use Copilot Studio to customize Copilot for their organization’s needs. The number of organizations using Copilot grew by 175% quarter-over-quarter.
Microsoft introduced Phi-3 in April, the company’s family of small language models measuring 3.8 billion parameters, that perform better than large models. It is available in the Microsoft Azure AI Model Catalog and on Hugging Face. Phi-3 models will also be available as an NVIDIA NIM Microservice that is capable of being deployed anywhere. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) plans to launch additional models to the Phi-3 like Phi-3-small, measuring 7 billion parameters, and Phi-3-medium, measuring 14 billion parameters.
Azure Arc, a hybrid multi-cloud management tool, now has over 33,000 customers, increasing twofold year-over-year. The company saw an 80% increase for its $100 million Azure deals year-over-year. $10 million deals, on the other hand, doubled in the same time frame. Its next-gen analytics platform, Fabric, has over 11,000 paid customers.
At the end of the first quarter of 2024, 293 hedge funds held stakes in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) with total positions amounting to $88.16 billion. Mar Vista Investment Partners is also bullish on the stock because of its strong position in the digital landscape. Here are comments from Mar Vista Investment Partners’ Q1 2024 investor letter:
“Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) continues to occupy a strong position, poised to capture market share as businesses navigate the transition to a digital-first landscape and embrace generative AI-driven solutions. The company’s commanding presence in the enterprise arena, combined with its comprehensive product portfolio encompassing Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), establishes it as a crucial provider of IT solutions for companies of all sizes. Microsoft is effectively executing its strategy in a sizable market by offering a roadmap for digital transformation and adoption of AI-driven solutions, such as ChatGPT, while enhancing productivity and reducing costs. Consequently, we anticipate that Microsoft’s solutions should exhibit resilience even in a more challenging macroeconomic environment, supporting low double-digit growth in intrinsic value within our investment horizon.”
