Baron Funds, an investment management firm, released its “Baron Global Advantage Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund was up 5.6% (institutional shares) in the third quarter compared to a 6.6% gain for the MSCI ACWI Index (the Index) and a 4.1% gain for the MSCI ACWI Growth Index, the Fund’s benchmark. In the third quarter, global equity indices rose, with several reaching new all-time highs. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to find out its best picks for 2024.
Baron Global Advantage Fund highlighted stocks like ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is an advanced semiconductor equipment systems manufacturer for chipmakers. The one-month return of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) was -19.45%, and its shares gained 2.41% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 7, 2024, ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) stock closed at $677.21 per share with a market capitalization of $266.279 billion.
Baron Global Advantage Fund stated the following regarding ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) designs and manufactures photolithography equipment for semiconductor production. ASML is the leader across all types of lithography and the only company selling extreme ultra-violet (EUV) lithography tools, which are critical for leading-edge chip manufacturing. The stock fell 18.3% during the quarter on investor concerns around potential 2025 results driven by Intel’s capex cuts, sustainability of Chinese lithography demand, potential government restrictions on sales to China, and worries over slowing demand in the coming quarters. Despite near-term noise and uncertainty, ASML has a backlog covering the majority of expected revenues for 2025. More importantly, the long-term outlook remains favorable, regardless of where ASML is able to ship as demand for tools is ultimately driven by the overall demand for semiconductors regardless of the fab location. As a de facto monopoly on critical lithography tools supporting an industry with growing demand fueled by the proliferation of AI, we see durable competitive advantages that should translate into good upside for shares of ASML over the long term.”
A technician in a clean room working on a semiconductor device, illuminated by the machines.
ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. s per our database, 81 hedge fund portfolios held ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) at the end of the second quarter which was 75 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we discussed ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) and shared AI news and ratings you should not miss. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) detracted from the performance of Ithaka US Growth Strategy in Q3 2024. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.