In this piece, we will take a look at the ten international stocks billionaires are loading up on. For more stocks, head on over to 5 International Stocks Billionaires Are Loading Up On.
The global economy is yet to recover from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic. After 2020 saw global lockdowns that shut down manufacturing plants, rapid vaccination provided some semblance of a return to normalcy. This normalcy was starting to make its way in 2022 when the Russian invasion of Ukraine kicked off. This upended the global commodities and energy market, and, especially for Europe, ushered in painful inflation that often crossed double digits. At the same time, the U.S. Federal Reserve, eager to finally act on inflation that had started to creep up in 2021, rapidly started to raise interest rates.
Entering 2023, the worst of last year’s inflationary wave is over. Prices are coming down in the U.S. and all over the world, however, the inflationary worries are now supplanted by fears of a recession. Particularly in the U.S., there is a growing consensus that the economy might contract soon, but internationally, the picture varies by country. For instance, Europe’s largest economy Germany has already entered into a recession. Germany was one of the worst hit countries from the fallout of the Russian invasion as it had grown to rely on cheap Russian gas to fuel its economic engine. Data from the German statistics office show that the economy contracted by 0.3% in Q1 2023 after contracting by 0.5% in Q4 2022 – marking two consecutive quarters of a slowdown to meet the technical definition of a recession. At the same time, though, the German central bank struck an optimistic tune as it predicted that the economy will slightly grow during the second quarter on the back of falling industry prices and supply chain easing.
One of the world’s premier financing institutions and a watchdog of the global economy the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has some fresh estimates. The IMF believes that global economic growth is expected to slow down to 2.8% this year from 3.4% last year. However, 2024 will be a relatively better year as growth will recover to 3% – yet still be below 2022, which was the first year when the economic recovery from the pandemic started to take place. The financial institution adds that advanced economies such as the U.S., the U.K., and Germany will see slower growth than global averages with the base case scenario seeing 1.3% in growth.
Breaking down international GDP growth projections for 2023 country wise, the developed world will be led by the United States whose economy is expected to grow by 1.6%. Canada and Spain follow with 1.5% economic growth. The UK’s economy is expected to contract by 0.3%. The picture is much rosier for emerging and developing economies, with India expected to take the lead and grow by 5.9% this year and China coming in at second place with a 5.2% rate.
The interconnectedness of the global supply chain has also led to crucial companies that sit at the heart of some of the biggest industries seeing their primary operations become isolated to geographical areas. Nowhere else is this more evident than in the semiconductor industry. Two crucial firms, namely the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) and ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML), are some notable examples. TSMC is the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer – but all of its leading edge chip manufacturing facilities are located only in Taiwan. And the machines that TSMC uses to make these chips are built only by ASML – whose facilities are concentrated in Europe. This leaves a multi-billion dollar industry at the mercy of geopolitical developments – particularly for TSMC which is located in the tension-filled region of the South China Sea.
TSMC itself is struggling from a global slowdown in the semiconductor industry, and during its latest earnings call, the firm’s chief executive officer Dr. C.C. Wei shared:
In addition, the recovery in end market demand from channels reopening is also lower than our expectation. Therefore, the fabless semiconductor inventory adjustment in first half ’23 is taking longer than our prior expectation. It may extend into third quarter this year before rebalancing to a healthier level. For the full year of 2023, we do our forecast for the semiconductor market, excluding memory, to decline mid-single-digit percent while foundry industry is forecast to decline high single-digit percent. We now expect our full year 2023 revenue to decline low to mid-single-digit percent in U.S. dollar terms and our business to do better than both semiconductor ex memory and foundry industries, supported by our strong technology leadership and differentiation.
So, with these details in mind, let’s take a look at some of the world’s largest companies that are also a favorite among billionaire investors. Some top picks are ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM), and Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN).
Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash
Our Methodology
To compile our list of international stocks that billionaires are buying, we first narrowed down to the forty largest international companies in terms of market cap whose shares trade on American markets. Then, the number of billionaire-owned or billionaire-led hedge funds that have bought their shares as of March 2023 was determined from our list of billionaires. The top ten international stocks with the highest number of billionaire investors were chosen for this article.
10 International Stocks Billionaires Are Loading Up On
10. British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI)
Number of Billionaire Investors In Q1 2023: 7
British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) is one of the largest tobacco companies in the world. The firm is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom, and it was set up in 1902 – making it one of the oldest companies on our list.
22 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had held a stake in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) during Q1 2023. Out of these, the firm’s largest investor is billionaire Rajiv Jaiv’s GQG Partners with an $882 million stake.
Along with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM), ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML), and Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN), British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI) is a hot international stock being bought by billionaires.
9. Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)
Number of Billionaire Investors In Q1 2023: 10
Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) is a Danish healthcare firm. It is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and develops drugs for diabetes, weight loss, growth disorders, and other ailments.
After sifting through 943 hedge funds for their first quarter of 2023 portfolios, Insider Monkey discovered that 46 had bought Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s shares. Out of these, the firm’s largest investor is billionaire Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies with a $1.7 billion investment.
8. Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (NYSE:CP)
Number of Billionaire Investors In Q1 2023: 11
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (NYSE:CP) is a railroad company based in Calgary, Canada. The firm focuses its operations primarily in the U.S. and Canada and it has thousands of miles of rail track through which it transports different products such as freight, fertilizers, and coal.
48 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had held a stake in the firm as of March 2023. Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (NYSE:CP)’s largest shareholder is billionaire Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund Management with a $4.2 billion stake.
7. Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)
Number of Billionaire Investors In Q1 2023: 11
Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is another Irish company and one that is also headquartered in Dublin. It is a technology consultancy firm that enables customers to leverage advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence into their business processes and operations.
After sifting through 943 hedge funds for their first quarter of 2023 shareholdings, Insider Monkey discovered that 60 had invested in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN). Its largest investor in our database is Nicolai Tangen’s Ako Capital with a $534 million investment.
6. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)
Number of Billionaire Investors In Q1 2023: 13
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) is Brazil’s premier and state owned oil and gas company. It explores, extracts, refines, and transports crude oil products. It was set up in 1953 and is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Insider Monkey’s March quarter of 2023 survey of 943 hedge funds revealed that 39 had invested in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR). The firm’s largest shareholder in our database is Rajiv Jain’s GQG Partners since it owns 211 million shares that are worth $2.2 billion.
ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML), Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM), and Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) are some top international stocks on the billionaire radar.
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Disclosure: None. 10 International Stocks Billionaires Are Loading Up On is posted on Insider Monkey.