In this article we discuss the 5 best Asian stocks to buy now. If you want to read our detailed analysis of these companies, go directly to the 10 Best Asian Stocks to Buy Now.
5. Sea Limited (NYSE: SE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 98
Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) is a Singaporean internet company, mainly operating in gaming, digital payments, and e-commerce. The company owns Garena, a global online games developer. In its Q1 2021 reports, Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) announced a 146.7% year-on-year growth in its revenue at $1.8 billion. The digital sector of the company generated over $781.3 million in revenues, showing 111.4% growth year-on-year.
The BofA has rated the SE stock as a ‘Buy’, raising the target price to $340 from $260.
As of Q1 2021, 98 hedge funds, tracked in our database, own stakes in Sea Limited (NYSE: SE), worth $10.4 billion.
ClearBridge Investments recently published its Q1 2021 investor letter and mentions Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) in it. Here is what the investment management firm has to say:
“Singapore-based Sea maintains leading positions in Southeast Asia in video games and e-commerce and operates an emerging digital payments and banking business. While the company is investing heavily into e-commerce and payments, this growth is being funded by its highly profitable gaming segment. We see a long runway for growth across Sea’s businesses with multiple opportunities like e-commerce expansion in Latin America not fully factored into the valuation today. The company also has a well-respected management team that has successfully executed in expanding its total addressable market. Along with existing holding Alibaba, Sea provides exposure to secular growth trends in emerging markets that are harder to replicate through U.S. stocks.”
4. Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 56
Founded in 2015, Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD) is an agriculture-centric technology company in China. Even in such a short time, the company has become one of the fastest-growing retailers in China with a market cap of $152 billion. In Q1 2021, it generated over $3.4 billion in revenues, compared with $1.02 billion during the same period last year. The analysts are expecting an 80% year-over-year growth in revenue in 2021.
At the end of Q1 2021, 56 hedge funds have stakes in Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD), up from 54 funds in the previous quarter.
Tao Value, an investment management firm, published its first-quarter 2021 investor letter. The firm has mentioned Pinduoduo Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD) in its letter. Here is what it has to say:
“Pinduoduo reported a strong quarter, reporting MAU of 720 million, now surpassing Taobao. However, it was overshadowed by a bigger news on Colin Huang resigning from Board and completely disassociating himself from PDD’s management & operation. Huang explained in his letter to shareholders that he would start fundamental research initiatives in food science. Although not entirely shocked (as he already stepped down from CEO July 2020), I am surprised by the fast pace of such transition. I remain confident in the organization and the culture Huang built but will monitor it closely.”
3. JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: JD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 75
JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) stands third on our list of the best Asian stocks to buy now. It is one of the largest e-commerce companies in China and a Fortune Global 500 company.
In Q1 2021, JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) generated a revenue of over 203 billion CNY, up from 146.2 billion CNY during the same period last year. The stock price is also growing after seeing a low of $39 in March 2020. In February this year, the JD stock reached its all-time high and traded for $106 per share. Overall, JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) stock has grown by 254.8% in the last 5 years.
As of Q1 2021, 75 hedge funds tracked in our database have a stake in JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: JD). The total value of these stakes is $11.3 billion.
An investment management firm, Arisaig Partners, published its Q1 2021 investor letter and mentioned JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) in it. Here is what the firm has to say:
“Our largest holding as a firm, JD.com, we expect to grow earnings at an annualized rate of 30% over the next five years, implying it will trade on an EV / EBITDA of 7.5x at the end of this period. Is this a growth stock or a value stock? Does anyone care? Do these labels really matter?
For the Asia Fund, with a higher pre-existing allocation to our core FMCG holdings coming into the year, we took advantage of capital market volatility to further concentrate on our highest conviction names. JD.com has been the main destination for our limited reallocations as evidence continues to emerge supporting our thesis that the company has a strong right-to-win in the large and highly fragmented USD1.8th Chinese grocery market. We have also been encouraged by the fact that after years of persistence, the company is beginning to engage with us on ESG issues (we have specifically discussed data protection, climate change and the circular economy). ESG is now being considered at the board level, and specific sustainability reporting should follow in the coming months. Having long displayed a healthy obsession with customer service, we interpret these latest conversations as a sign that JD is beginning to develop a more sophisticated understanding of its impact on all stakeholders.”
2. Coupang, Inc. (NYSE: CPNG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 40
Coupang, Inc. (NYSE: CPNG) is an e-commerce company based in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the best Asian stocks to buy now because the e-commerce market is rapidly growing in South Korea and is expected to reach $325 billion in 2025. Coupang, Inc. (NYSE: CPNG) is an Asian substitute for the American e-commerce giant, Amazon.com, inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), having nearly 24% of South Korea’s e-commerce market share.
Coupang, Inc. (NYSE: CPNG) generated nearly $12 billion in revenues in 2020, up from $6.2 billion in 2019. The company also managed to reduce its operating loss for the year to $500 million, from $600 million in 2019. Moreover, the CPNG stock has also grown by 9.4% in the past month. Coupang, Inc. (NYSE: CPNG) is trying to get a hold of the international market as well, by expanding its operations to Malaysia, after Japan and Tokyo. Earlier in May, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sold all its stakes in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) and started building its position in Coupang, Inc. (NYSE: CPNG) with 5.7 million shares, worth $220 million.
As of the end of Q1 2021, 40 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey hold stakes in Coupang, Inc. (NYSE: CPNG), worth $21.6 billion.
1. Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 135
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) tops our list of the best Asian stocks to buy now. It is a multinational technology and e-commerce company based in China.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) reported revenue of 187 billion CNY in Q1 2021, compared with 114 billion CNY during the same period last year. The stock is also bouncing back after being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The share prices have gained 1.4% in the past month. On April 12, the BABA stock grew by over 9% with a share price of $244. This was recorded as the best performance of the stock since mid-October 2020 when it saw its all-time high, with $309.9 per share.
Investors have their eyes on Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) stock because of the growth it is projecting. According to the analysts, the revenues are expected to grow by 39% this year.
As of Q1 2021, 135 hedge funds own positions in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA), worth $15.4 billion.
You can also take a peek at 10 Best Technology Stocks That Pay Dividends and 15 Biggest E-Commerce Companies in China.
