Columbia Threadneedle Investments, an investment management company released its “Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. stock market rose 2.75% in Q4, bringing its full-year return to 24.51%, as measured by the Russell 1000 Index. The November election result removed investor uncertainty, raising hopes for pro-growth government policies. In addition, U.S. equities remained attractive due to high economic growth. The fund’s Institutional Class shares returned 7.45% in the quarter, compared to a 4.61% return for the MSCI World Information Technology Index-Net. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings for its best picks for 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund emphasized stocks such as Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX). Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes, and services semiconductor processing equipment. The one-month return of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) was -8.06%, and its shares lost 17.26% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 12, 2025, Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) stock closed at $76.59 per share with a market capitalization of $98.316 billion.
Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund stated the following regarding Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) was a disappointing position for the fund during the quarter, despite strong long-term returns for the company stock. Escalating tensions between the United States and China have impacted Lam’s returns as U.S. restrictions on high-technology exports to China, particularly advanced AI chips, have been a major negative for chip providers. The company was impacted by the U.S. election and a victory for former president Trump raised concerns around potential tariffs for semiconductor manufacturing equipment during his next term.”
A technician operating an automated semiconductor processing machine with laser accuracy.
Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 84 hedge fund portfolios held Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 58 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter of fiscal 2025, Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) delivered $4.38 billion in revenues, an increase of 5% from the prior quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) 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 Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) and shared the list of top semiconductor stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.