In this article, we discuss the top 5 stock picks from BlackRock’s Q1 2022 portfolio. If you want to read our analysis of the investment management corporation’s performance, go directly to BlackRock’s Latest Portfolio 2022: Top 10 Stock Picks.
5. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
BlackRock’s Stake Value: $57,580,702
Percentage of BlackRock’s 13F Portfolio: 1.55%
Number of Hedge Funds as of December 31: 158
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is a California-based technology conglomerate that is the parent of Google and other subsidiaries. During the keynote session of its annual I/O developer conference on May 11, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) confirmed the long awaiting news of coming up with its smartwatch, which is expected to give Apple Watch a tough time. The Pixel Watch will be completely developed by Google and will have a deep connection with Fitbit. To expand its footprint, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) also announced the arrival of the Pixel Tablet next year. The company brought forward the budget-friendly Pixel 6A in three colors for $449.
Furthermore, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) provided a tease of its Pixel 7 phone, which is expected to arrive later this year in the fall. The company shared that it is bringing back Google Wallet, which will expand its offering from being a payment gateway. It will include features like boarding passes, remote car starts and student IDs.
Baron Funds, an asset management company, mentioned Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in its Q1 2022 investor letter. Here’s what the firm said:
“We have modestly reduced the size of our position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (from 6.5% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 to 5.3% as of the end of the first quarter of 2022), after the stock rallied 64% in 2021 and continued outperforming during the first quarter, declining just 3%.”
4. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
BlackRock’s Stake Value: 55,241,453
Percentage of BlackRock’s 13F Portfolio: 1.6%
Number of Hedge Funds as of December 31: 91
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is a Texas-based developer and manufacturer of electric vehicles and is the biggest publicly listed automobile company in the world. The company is facing challenges on multiple ends under the leadership of Elon Musk. Due to the COVID-19-related lockdown in China, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) reported weak production and sales numbers for April 2022. Furthermore, investors have not positively welcomed the news of Musk’s plan to acquire social media company Twitter, Inc. (NASDAQ:TWTR). However, according to the most recent updates, Musk has temporarily put the $44 billion Twitter deal on hold following tough negotiations.
In addition, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has also put its plan to enter the Indian market on hold following a deadlock in negotiations with the government authorities regarding tariffs on imports. At present, tariffs on imported cars can be as much as 100%. The Indian government is not willing to compromise on the tariffs as it wants Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) to manufacture EVs locally.
Fiduciary Management mentioned Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its investor letter for Q1 2022. Here’s what it had to say:
“Remarkably, the Nasdaq-100 and Russell 2000 indices are up 6.25% and 3.90% through 3/31/22, respectively, since the war started. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) went up 57% from its low on February 24 ($700) to the close on March 29th ($1099), which equates to an advance of $413 billion. To put that in perspective, the 24-trading day gain in Tesla was greater than the entire market value of Walmart, Inc.! Tesla trades for 120 times estimated 2022 GAAP2 earnings, compared to Walmart’s (NYSE:WMT) 21.8 multiple (1/2023 fiscal year).”
Of the 924 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey at the end of Q4 2021, 91 funds held a stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA).
3. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
BlackRock’s Stake Value: $95,007,597
Percentage of BlackRock’s 13F Portfolio: 2.55%
Number of Hedge Funds as of December 31: 279
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is a Washington-based diversified technology company that is involved in a wide array of fields like artificial intelligence, e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming and electric vehicles. The stock of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell to a 52-week low on May 10 following concerns related to the e-commerce industry due to rising inflation and interest rate hike.
On May 13, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock closed 10% higher than its 52-week and still down over 40% from its all-time high of $3,773.08. Amazon’s stock gained prominence since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as the demand for its e-commerce and streaming services surged. This resulted in the stock price rising from under the $1,700 level in March 2020 to its all-time high in mid-2021.
Oakmark Funds mentioned Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q1 2022 investor letter. Here’s what it had to say:
“Amazon is the leading e-commerce and cloud-computing provider in the world. In e-commerce, two-thirds of U.S. households are Amazon Prime subscribers, and over half of all online product searches now start on Amazon. We believe the company’s strong customer loyalty and massive infrastructure are significant barriers to entry in a growing e-commerce market. Separately, Amazon Web Services (AWS) controls nearly half of the market in cloud computing. We believe AWS has become utility-like in nature and scale, and we expect healthy growth moving forward as IT workloads continue moving to the cloud. More recently, concerns about rising investment spending have weighed on the stock-as they have in times past-providing us another opportunity to purchase shares at an attractive multiple of normalized earnings and a discount to its peer-weighted enterprise value-to-sales multiple.”
Overall, 279 funds held a stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) during Q4 2021.
2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
BlackRock’s Stake Value: $161,477,322
Percentage of BlackRock’s 13F Portfolio: 4.35%
Number of Hedge Funds as of December 31: 262
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a Washington-based tech giant that develops and sells consumer electronics, personal computers, and software. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) owns the business and employment-oriented service, LinkedIn.
In a note issued to investors on May 13, Dan Ives at Wedbush highlighted the current market correction is not a repeat telecast of the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s. He expects the tech sector to be divided into “clear haves and have nots.” Ives sees some companies going away in the form of bankruptcy or mergers but sees the strongest companies come out of the ashes more robust than ever. After reaching out to numerous IT professionals across various fields, Ives still sees strong spending in areas like artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and cyber security. He wrapped up by saying that the revenue estimates of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) may require downward revisions due to the uncertain macroeconomic outlook, but the company does not offer more than a 10% downside from the current level.
Motiwala Capital mentioned Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its investor letter for Q4 2021. Here’s what it said:
“Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) re-enters our portfolio after a long gap. MSFT sells enterprise and consumer software products as well as hardware products such as the Xbox video game console and Surface laptops. All business segments experienced double-digit revenue growth and earnings per share have compounded in the mid-double digits over the last 5 years. We believe MSFT continues this momentum in the years ahead.”
A total of 262 funds held a stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) as of Q4 2021.
1. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
BlackRock’s Stake Value: $179,434,978
Percentage of BlackRock’s 13F Portfolio: 4.83%
Number of Hedge Funds as of December 31: 134
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the biggest holding in BlackRock’s portfolio. The California-based tech giant is a specialist in the development, manufacturing, and selling of consumer electronics like smartphones, smartwatches, laptops, personal computers and wireless earphones.
In a note issued to investors on May 13, Ming-Chi Kuo at TF International Securities tweeted that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to come out with a newer version of the Apple TV set-top box in the second half of 2022 with a better cost structure. The analyst thinks that Apple’s plan of bringing together content, hardware, and services will help in closing its gap against its competitors. In the set-top box segment, Apple is head-to-head with Amazon and Google.
An investment management firm, ClearBridge Investments, mentioned Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q4 2021 investor letter. Here’s what the firm said:
“Despite these mixed emerging growth results, the ClearBridge Global Growth Strategy outperformed the benchmark due to resilience among our secular and structural growth holdings. The bulk of these contributions came from U.S. mega-cap growth stocks Apple and Microsoft which continued to uniquely act both offensively and defensively as they have through most of the pandemic.”
You can also take a peek at the 10 Stocks to Buy in April According to Jim Cramer and 15 Most Valuable E-Commerce Companies.
