We recently compiled a list of the Bill Gates Stock Portfolio: Latest 2024 Update. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) stands against the other stocks in Bill Gates’ portfolio.
Bill Gates is one of the most consequential people in the modern-day world. His software company, known for selling the Windows operating system, is among the most valuable firms in the world courtesy of its $3.30 trillion market capitalization. This firm has made Gates one of the richest people in the world, with his net worth estimated to sit at $108 billion according to the latest estimates.
The software billionaire retired from his firm in 2014, but he hasn’t stopped making an impact post-retirement. Rather than fade quietly into the distance, Gates refocused his efforts on causes and initiatives he is passionate about. Climate change, human health, and technology remain his key interests, and Gates targets these areas directly through his family office and indirectly through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
While it’s the Foundation that’s often at the center of media attention when it comes to Gates’ investments, the billionaire also invests through his family office Cascade Investment, LLC and Gates Frontier, LLC. Starting from Cascade Investment, the firm has had a moderately busy 2024. It started the year by disclosing a sizable ownership stake (23.7% of common stock) in a mega car parts company with a presence in the US, Mexico, and Brazil. This stock is up 30% year-to-date in a car market that has slowed down accompanied by a weaker discretionary spending environment due to high interest rates and inflation.
Cascade Investment reported owning a 22% stock in this company on February 13th, and the disclosure came just in the nick of time. This was because just five days later, the firm reported its second fiscal quarter earnings. The results sent the stock soaring by 8.7% as the company benefited from higher car prices leading to greater demand for its products. The firm’s second-quarter revenue and earnings per share of $3.86 billion and $28.89 beat analyst estimates of $3.84 billion and $26.28. By July end, Cascade’s stake grew to 24.9% and since then, the car parts manufacturer’s stock has gained 5.6%.
Bill Gates’ second investment disclosure through Cascade came in October when the firm declared that it owned a 7.1% stake in a diversified firm that sells electricity and plastic products such as pipe and also provides contract manufacturing services. The stock is down 7.4% year-to-date, but since Gates’ filing, it has gained 1.8%. It is also one of Gates’ oldest investments, with the billionaire having held a stake in it as early as 2000. It is also one of his most controversial plays since the firm generates electricity through conventional and polluting energy sources.
While Gates continues to hold stakes in the utility company and the car parts provider, Cascade Investments has also been busy selling one stock. All of its sales started at the end of October and have continued since then. The firm is selling a specialty chemicals company that caters to water treatment and other associated needs of waste treatment, semiconductor fabrication, pharmaceutical, and other industries. The shares had gained 2.74% year-to-date before Gates’ first sale, and since then, they have lost 0.90%. Interestingly, this stock also ranked 16th on our list of Wells Fargo’s Best Growth Stocks: 28 Stocks With The Highest Consensus EPS Growth Estimates. Since it’s an industrial stock, its fortune depends on broader US economic activity which also made it unsurprising that the shares
These three stocks are ones that have seen activity from Gates’ firm Cascade Investment. However, they are not the only ones that the billionaire has tinkered with this year. Gates’ other investment firm, Gates Frontier, also disclosed perhaps the most interesting stock of this introduction in February. This stock operates in one of the hottest industries right now. The shares are up 32% year-to-date, and the firm claims that its robotics technology “uses proprietary human-like surgical robots to virtually transport surgeons inside the patient to perform minimally invasive surgery.” The firm’s V1.0 surgical robot is currently planned to be submitted to the FDA for approval by mid-2026. Since the firm does not sell any products, it does not generate any revenue either. Consequently, it is a very risky play and Gates has likely invested in the to fund a new technology that might also end up making him money.
Our Methodology
To make our list of the latest stocks in Bill Gates’ portfolio, we scanned through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s SEC filings for the third quarter and picked out the top ten stocks with the highest investment stakes.
For these stocks, we also mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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).
A manager standing in a hypermarket, pointing out items available for wholesale.
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Investment Stake: $734 million
Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q3 2024: 88
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is the largest brick-and-mortar retailer in the world. The firm enjoys an enviable moat in its industry as is evident through its 10,000+ locations worldwide and a fortress balance sheet with total assets of $254 billion. As a mega-retailer, Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s hypothesis depends on the product volumes that it shifts since they help the firm maintain robust margins in an industry notorious for its low margins. The firm also has to compete with eCommerce players like Amazon in an economy dominated by the Internet. On this front, Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s Marketplace and its advertising business are two key fronts through which it is competing. Consequently, along with volumes and margins, these two factors are additional facets of the hypothesis. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is also using its massive store footprint to drive its online business by introducing services such as those that allow customers to order online and avail services in physical locations.
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s management commented on its eCommerce business during the Q3 2024 earnings call. Here is what they said:
“As our business model evolves, it’s encouraging to see our margins improve from a diverse set of offerings. Global eCommerce losses continue to narrow in Q3, most notably in Walmart U.S. While improved business mix helped, we’re seeing good progress in core eCommerce margins. There are a few key factors driving this improvement, delivery densification, increased penetration of paid expedited delivery orders and the automation of our supply chain.”
Overall WMT ranks 8th on our list of the stocks in Bill Gates’ portfolio. While we acknowledge the potential of WMT 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 more promising than WMT 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.