We recently published a list of UBS’ Top Quant Stocks In AI, IT, Healthcare & Other Sectors: Top 33 Stocks In All Sectors. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) stands against other UBS’ top quant stocks in AI, IT, healthcare & other sectors.
With the third quarter of the 2024 earnings season underway, Wall Street is dealing with a changing stock market environment. The Federal Reserve has started its interest rate reduction cycle and market watchers are on the lookout for labor market and inflationary indicators to determine whether the Fed will be able to meet its goal of reducing interest rates by an additional 50 basis points by the end of this year.
Simultaneously, the shifting economic climate is also creating changes in the investment environment. High interest rates traditionally do not mean well for certain stock market sectors barring exceptional circumstances. Some sectors that don’t perform well in a high-rate environment include real estate, healthcare, and technology.
For two of these, this has been the case in the 2022 – 2024 Federal Reserve interest rate hiking cycle as well. Starting from real estate, the flagship S&P index’s real estate sector’s annualized three-year return is currently -2.66%. From its peak of 324.75 in December 2021, the index has lost 48.2 points or 14.8%. Similarly, the high-end healthcare and biotechnology sector does not fare well during high interest rates either. Since 2021’s close, the S&P’s pharmaceutical stock index is down by -0.84% while the S&P’s biotechnology index has lost a sizable 12.61%.
This brings us to our third stock market sector, a.k.a, technology. Technology, as you’re likely aware, has seen a lot of investor interest due to the surge in artificial intelligence. Looking at the performance of the S&P’s technology stock index, its performance also mirrors real estate and healthcare stocks before the frenzy around artificial intelligence started. Between 2021’s close and the market’s bottom in October 2022, the index had lost 33%. During the same time period, the real estate, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology stock indexes had lost 34.8%, 12.2%, and 30.5%, respectively. However, market optimism surrounding artificial intelligence has created a clear bifurcation in performance.
As an example, while real estate stocks have gained 29% since the October 2022 bottom and biotechnology stocks have added 25% in value, information technology stocks are up by a whopping 115%. This shows that tech stocks have delivered 4x the returns of both real estate and biotechnology. Driving this is artificial intelligence, with the shares of the world’s premier AI GPU designer up by 690% since OpenAI publicly released ChatGPT.
Looking at these shifts, the next question to ask is which stock market sectors might benefit from the evolving environment moving forward. On this front, investment bank UBS has some insights. In its Equity Compass Report issued in mid-October, the bank identifies key themes and trends for US and global stock markets. Within global and US stock market sectors, the bank has rated only one sector as ‘Most Attractive’. Unsurprisingly, this is the US technology sector which is currently experiencing a sustained surge of investor optimism courtesy of artificial intelligence.
The bank shares several data points to justify its optimism in the US technology sector, and more specifically, artificial intelligence companies. Citing data from the Hugging Face repository, a collection of software development tools, it reveals “an average 200% y/y rise for new AI models and model downloads combined so far in 2024.” UBS is also optimistic about the growing adoption of artificial intelligence in the US business world. AI adoption is key since big technology firms that have invested billions of dollars in AI need it to generate returns on their investment.
As per UBS, data from the Census Bureau’s Business Trends and Outlook (BTOS) survey released in September 2024 shows that AI adoption across the 1.2 million firms tracked was picking up the pace. “In the survey, 5.9% of companies reported using AI as of 3Q24, up from 3.7% in 3Q23,” outlined the bank in its report. Not only did 5.9% of the firms adopt AI, but the survey’s outlook for the next six months revealed that AI adoption across the surveyed population could rise by 2.8 percentage points to sit at 8.7%. Commenting on the implications of the higher adoption, UBS stated that “increasing future adoption will increase visibility on AI monetization, which is consistent with recent comments from leading cloud platforms.” The firms slated to benefit the most from this monetization are those ” with strong footprints in existing customer bases,” believes the bank.
These statements necessitate asking the question of which industries are slated to benefit the most from AI adoption. Fortunately for us, UBS also shares data for the industries currently leading the way with AI adoption and those that could grow adoption in the future. Right now, the information technology and personal services sectors are leading with AI adoption since as of September 2024, their respective adoption percentages were 19.1% and 14.7%. For the next six months, while the same industries are expected to lead the pack in overall AI adoption through their 23% and 19.8% percentages, others are expected to make higher percentage point gains. Two industries that stand out in the report are educational services and the finance and insurance industries.
As per the report, the former is expected to increase its AI adoption by 5.6 percentage points to 18.7% over the next six months from the current value of 13.1%. For the finance and insurance sector, it is expected to mark a 6.2 percentage point jump to 13.4% from the existing AI adoption of 7.2%. Of course, while AI is by far the most popular sector in the market right now, UBS also shares other attractive areas. It outlines that the market “also offers exposure to secular growth in longevity through various US medical device companies. Many US companies are also playing leading roles in the energy transition via electric vehicles, renewables, and energy efficiency.”
Our Methodology
To make our list of UBS stocks with improving quantitative indicators, we chose the firm’s top stocks that are seeing improvements in EPS growth, P/E ratio, and other indicators. Stocks within each sector were ranked by the number of hedge funds that had bought the shares during Q2 2024. The sectors themselves were ranked by the cumulative number of funds invested in the firms.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).
Empty lobby of a high-end hotel showcasing the modern, luxurious interior of the hotel chain.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q2 2024: 64
Sector: Consumer Discretionary
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) is one of the biggest hospitality companies in the world. It has a presence all over the world through properties under its namesake, Waldorf Astoria, and other brands. As a result, the firm’s narrative depends on the key metric of revenue per available room and the performance of the global economy due to its global presence. Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) depends to a large extent on its franchise revenue, with 23% of its H1 2024 revenue coming from franchises. Another chunk comes from its managed properties, and the stock’s performance in 2024 has mirrored economic sentiment. A weakening labor environment and souring investor sentiment led to the shares tumbling by 7.7% in late July and early August. Since the Fed’s interest rate cut though the shares have gained 7% and its future outlook depends on revenue per room, global travel patterns, and global economic performance.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT)’s management shared key details about its pipeline during the Q3 2024 earnings call:
“We welcome nearly 400 luxury properties through our exclusive agreement with Small Luxury Hotels of the World. These properties, spanning 70 different countries, provide Honors members even more opportunities to book unique luxury experiences and sought-after destinations across the globe. Including SLH and our existing luxury properties, we now have one of the largest luxury hotel portfolios in the industry. Conversions accounted for 60% of openings in the quarter, driven by the addition of SLH properties and continued momentum from Spark. We opened more than 20 Spark hotels in the quarter and now have over 6,000 Spark rooms in supply just a year after the brand opened its first property. Spark now has opened hotels in the US and the UK and Canada, and we recently announced plans to open hotels in Germany and Austria before the end of the year.
The brand’s pipeline is three times larger than its existing supply, and we expect continued launches in international markets to further boost Spark’s trajectory, positioning us well for future growth in the premium economy space. In the quarter, we signed 28,000 rooms, expanding our pipeline to more than 492,000 rooms, which is up 8% year-over-year, excluding partnerships, our pipeline also increased from the second quarter. We signed three luxury deals in Greece, Japan and the UAE and 35 lifestyle properties, including a record 15 Curios. Conversions accounted for more than 30% of signings in the quarter, driven by the strength of Spark and continued momentum across Curio, Tapestry and DoubleTree. Construction starts remained strong, up 21%, excluding acquisitions and partnerships.
We remain on track to exceed prior levels of starts by year-end with meaningful growth across both the US and international markets. Approximately half of our pipeline is under construction, and we continue to have more rooms under construction than any other hotel company, accounting for more 20% of industry share and nearly four times our existing share of supply. As a result of our strong pipeline and under construction activity, we continue to expect net unit growth of 7% to 7.5% for the full year and 6% to 7% for 2025. We continue to be recognized for our culture and award-winning brands. During the quarter, we were named the top hospitality workplace in Latin America and Asia by Great Place to Work, adding to the more than 560 Great Place to Work Awards and nearly 60 number one wins around the world since 2016.”
Overall, HLT ranks 10th on our list of UBS’ top quant stocks in AI, IT, healthcare & other sectors. While we acknowledge the potential of HLT 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 time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than HLT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
