In this article, we discuss George Soros’ stock portfolio: top 10 stock picks. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of these stocks, go directly to George Soros Stock Portfolio: Top 5 Stock Picks.
George Soros, also known as, “The Man Who Broke the Bank of England”, is a Hungarian-born American billionaire, investor, and philanthropist. According to Forbes, Mr. Soros is worth $8.6 billion as of 2021 and is ranked at 92 on the Forbes 400 2021.
Mr. Soros was born in Budapest in 1930 but moved to the United Kingdom in 1947. He went to college at the London School of Economics, from where he graduated with a bachelor’s of science degree in philosophy in 1951. Mr. Soros then went on to pursue an advanced degree in the same discipline, graduated with a master’s degree in philosophy in 1954. George Soros began his professional endeavors by working for different banks in the United Kingdom, and then the United States. Moving to New York City gave the veteran billionaire the boost he needed. Mr. Soros reaped profits from investments and currency speculations, which led him to establish his first hedge fund in 1969, Double Eagle. Double Eagle thrived and added more value to Mr. Soros’ net worth, which led him to start his second hedge fund in 1970, Soros Fund Management. As of August 2021, Mr. Soros manages more than $5.93 billion in 13F securities through his hedge fund, Soros Fund Management.
George Soros is one of the most reputable and successful investors of all time. As mentioned above, the 91-year-old billionaire earned the title of ‘the man who broke the Bank of England’ after he earned profits of $1 billion against a wager he placed on the British Pound in 1992. His hedge fund, Soros Fund Management, is known to be one of the most profitable firms in the hedge fund industry.
Soros does not believe in holding on to stocks for long durations. The average time held for his top 20 holdings is roughly two and a half quarters, after which Soros demands change. Taking a look at the second quarter 13F filings, Soros made purchases in the technology, finance, and healthcare sectors. The billionaire’s top picks feature Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Liberty Broadband Corporation (NASDAQ:LBRDA).
Why should we pay attention to George Soros’ stock picks? Apart from him being a world-class professional, Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 86 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and July 2021 our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 186.1%, vs. 100.1% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by more than 86 percentage points (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.
Our Methodology
With this context in mind, here is our list of George Soros’ top 10 stock picks. These were ranked according to the investment portfolio of Soros Fund Management at the end of the second quarter of 2021.
The hedge fund sentiment around the stocks was gauged using data of 873 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey. The list is compiled according to the hedge fund holders in each stock.
The analyst ratings of the companies and their basic business fundamentals are also discussed to provide readers with some more context for their investment decisions.
George Soros Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks
10. PPD, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPD)
George Soros’ Stake Value: $96,287,000
Percentage of George Soros’ 13F Portfolio: 1.62%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 37
PPD, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPD) together with its subsidiaries, provides drug development services to the biopharmaceutical industry worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Clinical Development Services and Laboratory Services. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina.
This August, Credit Suisse analyst Katie Tryhane assumed coverage of PPD, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPD) with a Neutral rating and $47.50 price target.
As of the second quarter of 2021, Soros Fund Management owns over 2.1 million shares of PPD, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPD). The total stake of George Soros in the company sits at $96.2 million, which accounts for 1.62% of his 13F portfolio.
By the end of the second quarter of 2021, 37 hedge funds out of the 873 tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in PPD, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPD) worth roughly $1.91 billion. This is compared to 29 hedge funds in the previous quarter with a total stake value of approximately $822.9 million.
DEVON Equity Management published its second-quarter 2021 investor letter, in which the firm mentioned PPD, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPD) and shared its stance on the company. Here’s what the firm had to say:
“…We expect the ~US$4bn of ‘excess’ free cash flow generated from COVID related business to be reinvested into high returning businesses with a more sustainable earnings profile. This is already evident in Thermo’s strong M&A activity YTD, culminating in the US$20bn acquisition of PPD (PPD US).
PPD is a top tier CRO (Contract Research Organisation) which has been in and out of private equity ownership in recent times. To oversimplify, CRO’s effectively provide ‘outsourced’ R&D services across the entire customer spectrum (from big pharma to early stage biotech). Their value proposition varies slightly be customer, but ultimately comes down to quality of drug discovery / development and accelerating time to market (i.e. ‘Return on R&D investment’). CROs must stack up well on this metric vs in-house R&D spend, otherwise Firms would simply keep the spend 100% internal.”
9. Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ)
George Soros’ Stake Value: $112,280,000
Percentage of George Soros’ 13F Portfolio: 1.89%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 35
“We participated in the IPO of Marqeta, Inc., a modern card-issuing platform that enables companies to run their own payment card programs. Marqeta is built on modern technology and can be accessed with open APIs that are easy to use and developer-friendly, resulting in most of its clients coming from word-of-mouth referrals instead of outbound sales. The modern technology stack allows for the programmability of cards, enabling companies to authorize transactions in real time and control how the cards are used. This programmable nature means that cards can be used in a range of use cases for which traditional cards are not suitable. Examples include cards with spending controls for different employees and purchase categories as well as cards for food delivery companies that restrict spending only to authorized purchases to reduce fraud. While there are other card issuers, none can provide the level of functionality at large scale that Marqeta can. Marqeta generates revenue from the interchange fees earned on transactions that are processed on its cards. It shares a portion of this with its customers, meaning that card solutions become a revenue stream rather than a cost center. Many of the company’s clients are fast growing, and Marqeta continues to innovate the features on its platform, which in turn give its clients more tools with which to develop new card payment products and experiences. Given a largely fixed cost structure, Marqeta earns high incremental margins on each dollar spent on its cards. Led by founder-CEO Jason Gardner, we believe that Marqeta is a high-quality, differentiated business in the FinTech space with a long runway for growth.”
8. Proterra Inc. (NASDAQ:PTRA)
George Soros’ Stake Value: $132,681,000
Percentage of George Soros’ 13F Portfolio: 2.23%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 23
Proterra Inc. (NASDAQ:PTRA) is an American automotive and energy storage company based in Burlingame, California. The company designs and manufactures electric transit buses and electric charging systems and was incorporated in 2004.
This September, Barclays analyst Brian Johnson initiated coverage of Proterra Inc. (NASDAQ:PTRA) with an Equal Weight rating and $10 price target.
By the end of the second quarter of 2021, 23 hedge funds out of the 873 tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Proterra Inc. (NASDAQ:PTRA) worth roughly $338 million.
7. Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI)
George Soros’ Stake Value: $143,467,000
Percentage of George Soros’ 13F Portfolio: 2.41%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 78
Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), together with its subsidiaries, develops and publishes interactive entertainment content and services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through three segments: Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, and King Digital Entertainment. Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.
This September, Jefferies analyst Andrew Uerkwitz reiterated a Buy rating and $120 price target on the stock of the video game company, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI).
Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) is ranked among the top ten holdings of Soros Fund Management. As of the second quarter of 2021, George Soros has stakes worth $143.4 million in the video game company.
By the end of the second quarter of 2021, 78 hedge funds out of the 873 tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) worth roughly $3.65 billion. This is compared to 76 positions in the previous quarter with a total stake value of approximately $3.58 billion.
Like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Liberty Broadband Corporation (NASDAQ:LBRDA), Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) is among the top ten stock picks of billionaire George Soros.
Cooper Investors, an investment management firm, published its “Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund (Hedged)” first quarter 2021 investor letter, in which the firm shared its stance on Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI). Here’s their take on the video game company’s stock:
“The portfolio established a position in video game publisher Activision Blizzard. As a watchlist company we have followed Activision for several years. As a reminder the role of the watchlist is to allow us to focus on a select group of companies where we seek to observe important signals around either value latency, industry trends or management behaviour that portend attractive investment propositions.
Technology can often play a disruptive role in content, however video games are a clear beneficiary of technology, both in terms of more immersive and realistic gaming experiences as well as the monetisation opportunities this creates.
In order to benefit from these trends, video game publishers must be owners of unique IP. Activision Blizzard fits this bill perfectly boasting a portfolio which includes franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Diablo just to name a few.
The business is run by CEO Bobby Kotick, who together with Chairman Brian Kelly purchased the foundation assets for the company for US$400k in the early 1990s. Today Activision has a market capitalisation of over US$70bn. Over the last few years Bobby and his management team have refocused resources onto their best IP, with the goal of capitalising on the aforementioned industry tailwinds.
We saw the benefits of this in 2020 with the release of Call of Duty Mobile and Free-to-Play versions (with in game micro transactions) complimenting the traditional core console game. Engagement increased materially and due to the very favourable economics of content publishing, Operating Income more than doubled for the Call of Duty Franchise. Even adjusting for the impact of lockdowns, this is a phenomenal outcome.
Activision has 3-4 key pieces of IP with which they plan to repeat this playbook over the next couple of years. If they can replicate the success of Call of Duty, even in part, we see material upside to the free cash flow power of the business. Further, revenue sources are broadening which will move the profile away from a traditional lumpy annual release cycle of the old video game model towards one of a more recurring nature. This will transition Activision from a publishing to a services business, likely attracting a higher multiple than the current mid-low 20x FCF which is broadly in line with the market. To summarise, we see significant value latency and a pathway to double digit returns over the medium term.”
6. IHS Markit Ltd. (NYSE:INFO)
George Soros’ Stake Value: $152,091,000
Percentage of George Soros’ 13F Portfolio: 2.56%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 61
IHS Markit Ltd. (NYSE:INFO) provides critical information, analytics, and solutions for various industries and markets worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Resources, Transportation, Consolidated Markets & Solutions (CMS), and Financial Services. IHS Markit Ltd. (NYSE:INFO) was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
This July, Deutsche Bank analyst Sameer Kalucha raised his price target on IHS Markit Ltd. (NYSE:INFO) to $127 from $123 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares following a deeper dive into the merger with S&P Global (SPGI).
At the end of the second quarter of 2021, Soros Fund Management owned 1.35 million shares of IHS Markit Ltd. (NYSE:INFO). The company represents 2.56% of billionaire George Soros’ 13F portfolio and Mr. Soros has stakes worth roughly $152 million in the company.
As of the third quarter of 2021, IHS Markit Ltd. (NYSE:INFO) recorded earnings per share of $0.85, beating estimates by $0.02. The company also beat revenue estimates by $13.29 million and generated revenues of $1.18 billion, up by 10% year over year. IHS Markit Ltd. (NYSE:INFO) has gained 18.93% over the past six months and 29.94% year to date.
By the end of the second quarter of 2021, 61 hedge funds out of the 873 tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in IHS Markit Ltd. (NYSE:INFO) worth roughly $5.94 billion. This is compared to 54 positions in the previous quarter with a total stake value of approximately $4.09 billion.
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Disclosure: None. George Soros Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks is originally published on Insider Monkey.
