Investment management company Vulcan Value Partners recently released its first-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The first quarter experienced the return of volatility. The companies’ management teams expressed a more cautious view following the recent election. Optimism has given way to uncertainty about tariffs and potential impacts on earnings, inflation, and economic growth. In the quarter, the Large Cap Composite returned -2.1% net of fees and expenses, the Small Cap Composite returned -4.5% net, the Focus Composite returned -5.8% net, the Focus Plus composite returned -6.0% and the All-Cap Composite returned -4.1% net. For more information on the fund’s best picks in 2025, please check its top five holdings.
In its first quarter 2025 investor letter, Vulcan Value Partners emphasized stocks such as Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), the parent company of Google, offers various platforms and services operating through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The one-month return of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was -0.74%, and its shares gained 3.51% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 14, 2025, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) stock closed at $161.47 per share with a market capitalization of $1.952 trillion.
Vulcan Value Partners stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) delivered strong results during the fourth quarter. We continue to monitor generative AI disruption risks and the ongoing antitrust cases against the company, and we will follow our discipline as we receive more information. The company sold off along with the majority of the cloud computing ecosystem during the quarter.”
A user’s hands typing a search query into a Google Search box, emphasizing the company’s search capabilities.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is in 7th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 174 hedge fund portfolios held Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 160 in the previous quarter. In 2024, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) achieved a revenue growth of 14% compared to 2023, reaching $350 billion. For the fourth quarter, the revenue was $96.5 billion, reflecting a 12% increase in both reported and constant currency. While we acknowledge the potential of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) 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.
We covered Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in another article, where we shared top stock picks from Goldman Sachs value stocks. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 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.