In this article, we will be taking a look at the 5 most influential companies to invest in. For more companies and our methodology of this article, go to 15 Most Influential Companies to Invest In.
5. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)
Time believes Meta deserves the credit for mainstreaming the metaverse concept. In March, the magazine said that after Meta’s huge pivot towards metaverse, major companies like Microsoft and Google also starting investing in metaverse startups. However, 2022 was a bad year for Meta. The stock lost over 60% of its value in the year. Time noted that Apple’s key changes in its advertising policies also dented Meta.
Despite the poor performance in 2022, Meta remains one of the most important companies in the world. Hedge funds also hold the company dear, as 177 funds had stakes in the Meta as of the end of the third quarter of last year.
4. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
What got Time’s attention when it comes to Microsoft is the company’s ambitious gaming plans. Last year, Microsoft stunned the markets when it announced plans to buy Activision for a whopping $70 billion. The Xbox company, however, is still fighting to get the deal go through as it faces harsh legal hurdles from authorities in the US. Nonetheless, Microsoft remains one of the most influential companies in the world. Some estimates suggested close to 1.2 billion people use some kind of Microsoft Office products. Over 1.4 billion devices in the world are powered by Windows 10 or Windows 11. Millions of people find jobs on LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft.
A total of 269 hedge funds in our database have stakes in Microsoft.
3. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)
Pfizer is in the list of the most influential companies of 2022 list of Time and the reason is obvious: the company’s COVID-19 vaccine and treatment pills. An article by Time noted that Pfizer’s antiviral pill against COVID-19 was the first pill-based coronavirus treatment in the U.S., and can reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by up to 89%.
Pfizer vaccine was used by millions of people worldwide. In December 2020, the US government agreed to pay the company a whopping $2 billion for 100 million additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Pfizer is still working on new vaccines and treatments against new COVID variants such as BQ.1.1.
A total of 77 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey have stakes in Pfizer as of the end of the third quarter.
2. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Under the leadership of Sundar Pichai, Alphabet is on its way to become more than just the leading search engine and advertising behemoth in the world. Alphabet’s AI and Cloud business is experiencing skyrocketing growth.
Over 2 billion monthly active users watch YouTube, owned by Alphabet. This shows the level of influence Alphabet has over humanity. Literally everyone around you uses Google search or YouTube video search.
In Q3, YouTube advertising revenue came in at $7.07 billion. Google’s Cloud revenue totaled $6.9 billion, compared to analysts’ estimates of $6.69 billion.
Alphabet is the third most popular stock among the 920 elite hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, as 196 funds reported having stakes in the company at the end of September.
1. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Amazon is truly one of the biggest and most influential companies in perhaps the entire human history. Dubbed by Time the “everything company,” Amazon has become a behemoth in ecommerce, Cloud and entertainment content streaming. In an article back in March this year, Time called Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy the “polar opposite” of Jeff Bezos, who handed over reins to Jassy in 2021. Time’s article said that Amazon is the biggest Cloud company in the world, an ecommerce player which offers next-day deliveries, a competitor of Netflix, an operator of a telemedicine service and literally tens of other businesses, including Amazon Gaming and Music. In this way, Amazon is literally influencing the lives of millions if not billions of people all over the world.
Amazon is the second-most popular company among the 920 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey as of the third quarter of 2022. 269 hedge funds had stakes in the company at the end of September last year.
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