This article presents an overview of American Politicians are Selling These 5 Stocks. For a detailed overview of such stocks read our article, American Politicians are Selling These 10 Stocks.
5. Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 78
Senator Tommy Tuberville sold a stake in Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) worth between $15,000 to $50,000 on March 13. Since then the stock is down 3.3%. Congresswoman Kathy Manning also sold Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares worth between $1K to $15K on January 23.
Madison Sustainable Equity Fund stated the following regarding QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) also reported a solid fourth fiscal quarter with better than expected results. The company guided the first quarter ahead of expectations despite headwinds from Samsung as the inventory headwinds dissipate. Qualcomm remains well positioned in the mobile handset market and should benefit as Artificial Intelligence moves to edge devices which could drive an upgrade cycle.”
4. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 82
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares are gaining ground after getting crushed for most of the year after Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) released its quarterly results. However, the stock saw selling from American politicians this year. Congressman Josh Gottheimer from the Democratic Party on March 15 sold Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares worth between $1K to $15K at $163.57 per share. Congressman Ro Khanna has been on a Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) selling spree. He sold Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares worth between $50K to $100K on March 20 at $175.66 per share. However, Khanna on March 25 bought Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares having worth between $15K to $50K at $172.63.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“The 9% growth we estimate for the Index includes the hefty weightings in high-growth names like NVIDIA and Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA). Tesla’s narrative wasn’t just about being a great electric vehicle manufacturer. The way we see it, the narrative included Tesla becoming a fully autonomous fleet of electric vehicles (“Robotaxi”) soon, the charging platform for all E.V.s soon, an AI play, a global solar utility company soon, a future subscription business, and more. When we research Tesla, we see a differentiated auto business and the potential for many of these interesting “options” to be realized over a long enough period. However, the timing and true viability of many of these options are still unknown and often take much longer than many hope. To justify today’s valuation, even after the recent pullback, we see a company that needs to crack the mass market with a $25,000 or less model at acceptable margins. Yet, the company hasn’t articulated a clear path to getting there. Interest rates have risen, and competition in China has intensified, tempering demand for its existing, higher[1]priced cars. Valuation has become more difficult to justify at these levels. We feel the reality of these dynamics has finally started to settle into Tesla stock prices, and we look forward to seeing a more reasonable valuation that reflects the existing product portfolio and any future offerings that demonstrate a very clear path to near-term commercialization.
We aim to invest in what we view as more predictable, highly competitively advantaged growth businesses that can drive the earnings growth we require to deliver long-term returns in line with our long-term mid-teens track record. We do not want or need to make heroic assumptions. Even over the highly unusual last five years that featured lumpy returns from year to year, we delivered mid-teens annualized gross returns—right in line with our historical average—driven by over 20% portfolio weighted-average earnings per share growth. We calculate that the earnings growth of the Russell 1000 Growth Index has been less than half that of our Portfolio over the same period.
As noted, Apple and Tesla, which we do not own but are large Index weights, underperformed and were relative contributors to our performance. It seems possible that market participants are finally seeing the economic reality of those businesses versus the hopeful narratives.”
3. Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 89
Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) is one of the stocks sold by American politicians this year. Republican Congressman Michael McCaul on March 25 sold a stake in Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) worth between $250,000 to $500,000. Since then through April 24 Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares have lost about 11% in value. This shows that Congressman McCaul’s sale of Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) was prescient in hindsight. Over the past one year Netflix shares have gained about 68%.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“The top absolute contributors were Amazon, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), and Microsoft. Netflix is seeing robust subscriber growth from new users and from converting previous password borrowers into paying subscribers. Netflix remains the largest streaming company in the world and the only profitable one we are aware of so far.”
2. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 131
While Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has seen a lot of positive interest from American politicians over the past months and years, it was sold by some Congressmen earlier this year. US Senator Tommy Tuberville sold Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares having worth between $15,000 to $50,000 on March 12. Since then through April 24 Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock has lost about 2.4% in value. Congressman Ro Khanna also sold Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares worth between $1K to $15K on March 25.
Ithaka US Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a global consumer electronics and software company that designs and markets mobile communications devices (iPhones), personal computers (Macs), multi-purpose tablets (iPads), and wearables (Apple Watch, AirPods, and Accessories). The company also sells several high-margin consumer services including Advertising, AppleCare, Cloud Services, Digital Content and Payment Services. The stock’s underperformance during the quarter was due to fears that the company’s slowing top-line growth and increased competitive threats make the stock’s premium valuation harder to justify.
1. NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 173
NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) is going through a rough time as investors take some profits and digest the new reality where competition is high amid major companies mulling producing their own chips. Republican Congressman Dan Meuser was dumping NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) before this selloff started, as he sold a stake in the company worth anywhere between $250,000 to $500,000 on February 20. However the Congressman missed out on some gains as the stock was trading at $694 back then while it stands at $877 today.
Patient Capital Opportunity Equity Strategy stated the following regarding NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“This quarter we entered two new positions, while exiting four positions. Our first new position was NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), which we bought early in the quarter. Nvidia is the market leader in designing and selling Graphics Processing Units (GPU), which has recently benefited from the insatiable demand of artificial intelligence (AI) models. The company currently captures 92% market share of data center GPUs and grew revenue, earnings and FCF an astounding 126%, 392%, and 610%, respectively, over the last year. While much of the focus is on Nvidia’s market cap reaching $2.3T, up 230% over the last year, the company’s valuation has actually come down over that period. As of 3/31/23, consensus was valuing the company at 61x forward EPS. This compares to today, where the company is being valued at 37x. While yes, we have never seen a company expand their market cap by so much so quickly, we have also never seen a company grow their fundamental earnings and cash generation so quickly (and which is actually expanding faster than valuation). While competitors are working to enter the GPU space, Nvidia has created a moat around their GPUs with their CUDA software offering. While we do expect the large cloud players to continue to move into the market, we think NVDA can continue to demand top market share. With leading edge technology, an increasing innovation cycle and strong cash generation, the company is well positioned for the increased adoption of accelerated computing and artificial intelligence (AI).
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) was a top performer in the quarter gaining 82.5% in the period. While the company has had an impressive run, gaining 242% over the last year, the valuation has been supported by the impressive growth in Revenue (126%), EPS (392%) and free cash flow (610%) over the last year. The company has solidified its position in the GPU space supported by its proprietary software CUDA. While we expect competition to increase, we think NVDA can continue to maintain top market share. With leading edge technology, an increasing innovation cycle and strong cash generation, the company is well positioned for the increased adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).”
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