15 Most Influential Companies to Invest In

Published on January 2, 2023 at 3:48 pm by Fahad Saleem in Hedge Funds, News

In this article, we will be taking a look at the 15 most influential companies to invest in. For more such companies, go to 5 Most Influential Companies to Invest In.

An average human these days seems to be continually under the influence of major companies. You wake up in the morning thanks to the alarm set on your smartphone, commute to your office via Uber or your own car courtesy of a major car company, order a snack in your office thanks to food delivery services operated by major companies, enjoy a late-night movie on a streaming service operated by streaming giants like Netflix or Amazon, and the list goes on and on. While corporate America often invites scorn of the masses, the fact is that these businesses and companies have brought prosperity to the common household. For example, a discussion paper by McKinsey last year outlined that the value added from businesses of any size or formality including corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships accounts for 72 percent of GDP in OECD countries. The discussion paper focused on OECD businesses with revenues exceeding $1 billion and tried to identify how money from these businesses flow to a common household.

The McKinsey report outlined an interesting figure: thanks to the economic impact of corporations, the top ten percent of households in the United States increased their share of capital income to 66 percent in 2018, from 59 percent in 1995, and received 30 percent of their income through the capital income pathway. However, the pattern broke outside the US. The figure for the share of capital income stood at 26 percent in Germany and 23 percent in Japan. That’s because population in the two countries rely heavily on pensions instead of major corporations.

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Our Methodology

For this article, we first took a look at Time’s most influential companies for 2022 list. We scanned the list and picked only those companies that are also considered solid investments by elite hedge funds. How did we do that? We used Insider Monkey’s database of holdings of 920 hedge funds to gauge the popularity of these companies among the smart money.

Most Influential Companies to Invest In

15. International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)

While some think International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) has lost its mojo it was famous for back in the day, the company still made it to the list of the most influential companies list compiled by Time. The magazine praised the company for its technology that helps other companies fight the climate crisis. An article by Time back in March highlighted International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)’s Environmental Intelligence Suite which uses AI to alert companies about storms or other climate-related disasters. The article also noted International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)’s acquisition of Envizi, a data analytics company related to environmental performance management.

Of the 920 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 40 funds had stakes in International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) at the end of the September quarter.

14. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Being a key operator in the healthcare domain, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) remained in the news when the COVID-19 chaos started. According to Time, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) administered 60 million COVID-19 vaccinations and 26 million tests. To achieve this feat Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) had to invest heavily in its stores and staff. But the magazine said that the company will reap the rewards of this infrastructure overhaul as it plans to provide in-store screenings, health counseling, and other holistic health care services.

A total of 39 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) as of the end of the third quarter of 2022.

13. Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF)

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) servers over 100 million customers. It is one of the largest and most influential banks in the US, with close to 800 branches and 2,000 ATMs. Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) has also featured in Fortune 500 and Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For lists. In addition to being a major player in the credit card industry, Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) also has a huge influence in the auto loan sector, with over 5% market share.

Time magazine applauded Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF)’s initiative to end overdraft and insufficient fund fees, which costs Americans $15 billion annually. The magazine said that after this important announcement, other banks in the US, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup, are also expected to follow suit.

12. United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Daily, millions of people wait anxiously for a United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) worker to deliver their package at their doorstep. Founded in 1907 by two guys who used to deliver packages on foot or on bicycles, United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) has expanded to become a global supply chain behemoth, with its market cap standing at $150 billion as of January 2, 2023. Time magazine in March 2022 praised United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) for its workforce diversity as about half of the directors on its board are women. United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) also led the way when it comes to delivering packages in time and posted $13 billion in profits in 2021 despite challenging supply-chain dynamics.

Hedge funds are growing bullish on this highly influential company. As of the end of the third quarter of 2022, 55 funds had stakes in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS), compared to 38 funds in the previous quarter.

11. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UAL)

In 2021, approximately 70 million passengers flew with United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UAL), which is one of the most famous airlines in the world, with close to 80,000 employees and 210 destination routes. Time magazine thinks United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UAL) was “leading the fleet” when it comes to the coronavirus crisis, as the company started requiring its workers to get vaccinated even before the US government put such restrictions. The magazine also lauded the company’s efforts to go green. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UAL) made headlines in 2021 after the company flew a 737 Max from Chicago to Washington with one engine running on cooking oil and grease to promote alternative fuels.

A total of 37 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported having stakes in United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:UAL). The total worth of these stakes was about $606 million.

10. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)

About 58 million people on average visit The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)’s Disney World Resorts, while millions of families and kids enjoy Disney movies and books all over the world. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) continues to influence humans with its story books, cartoons characters, movies, theme parks and streaming service. Time magazine in March 2022 noted that Disney rebounded sharply after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and the company’s theme parks business alone made $2.5 billion in operating income in the first quarter of 2022.

Of the 920 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 112 funds had stakes in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) as of the end of the third quarter of 2022.

9. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

With over 223 million paid subscribers all over the world, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) remains one of the most influential companies. The content it produces and hosts on its platform is watched by millions of families in the world. After facing growth challenges and low subscriber growth amid intense competition from Amazon and other new entrants, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) expanded its production and took several steps to reinvigorate growth. Time magazine noted in March that Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s top hits in 2021 included non-US movies like Squid Game and Lupin. This has opened the floodgates of non-English content on the platform as Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is confident that English-speaking audience watch quality foreign content with subtitles.

A total of 115 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in Netflix as of the end of the third quarter of 2022.

8. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)’s technologies and products have become “essential” for progress in key areas like AI and NFTs, thinks Time. The magazine noted that even though NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) had to shelve its $40 billion planned deal to buy Arm after extreme regulatory headwinds, the company’s tech will facilitate major milestones in AI, robotics and related tech domains. According to a recent report by Jon Peddie Research, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) has a whopping 88% share in the discrete GPU market. This shows the level of influence NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) enjoys in the GPU market.

As of the end of the third quarter, 89 hedge funds in our database of 920 funds had stakes in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA).

7. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Time applauded Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) for investing in its workers, noting the company’s plan according to which Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) will spend a whopping $1 billion on its workers’ education over a period of five years. The magazine noted that Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) wants to upskill its workers in domains like cybersecurity and supply chain management to enable them to work for the company in similar roles.

A total of 68 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported having stakes in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) as of the end of the third quarter of 2022.

6. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

The level of influence Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has on consumers and other companies could be gauged from the fact that when the company allowed its users to block ad companies from tracking their app usage, big names like Facebook and Snap lost billions of dollars in advertising revenue. Over 1.2 billion people in the world use Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhones. The company has a market cap of over $2 trillion and huge plans in the technology space which are going to keep Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the limelight for decades to come.

A total of 140 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported having stakes in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of September 2022.

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