We recently published a list of Philippe Laffont Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) stands against other stocks of Philippe Laffont’s Stock Portfolio.
Founded by Philippe Laffont, Coatue Management is a lifecycle investment platform that is focused on turning big ideas into world-shaping technology companies. Laffont established Coatue Management in 1999 and has earlier gained experience as a “Tiger Cub” while working at Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management hedge fund. The company makes investments across public and private markets and has a focus on technology, media, consumer, telecommunications and healthcare sectors. The company’s lifecycle investment platform expanded across venture, growth, thematic, and structured capital strategies.
Coatue’s Investment Approach
The company’s investment philosophy revolves around a technology-centric approach. This approach stems from the belief that technological innovation is the key factor fueling economic growth and it possesses the potential to disrupt traditional sectors. As investors, the company tends to focus on seeking out the greatest innovators with the biggest ideas. The company has recently announced its continued deep partnership with Norm Ai by leading the latest investment. Norm Ai focuses on enabling regulated businesses to reap the benefits of the GenAI, with their government-grade regulatory AI product. Overall, the mission is to enable companies to do more, and yet maintain robust compliance scrutiny.
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Industrial Base is Expected to Transform, says Coatue
As per Coatue, for the much of 20th century, the defense sector was responsible for technological breakthroughs – from the internet to GPS. However, in recent decades, its role as a key driver of innovation has diminished. That being said, the investment management firm said that the US industrial base is at a pivotal moment. A wave of innovation has been emerging, fueled by new government initiatives, groundbreaking technologies, and an urgent need for modernization. The defense sector, which was once a sector not suitable for startups and innovators, is now opening. The firm believes that organizations and instruments, such as the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Other Transaction Authorities (OTA), continue to accelerate the pace of partnerships between the government and private companies.
The disruptors believe that even the most entrenched systems could be transformed with the help of innovation, placing new standards for agility, cost-efficiency, and impact, says the investment firm. Overall, it expects the industrial base of the future to revolve around unmanned/autonomous systems, nuclear-powered energy, robotic manufacturing, and a completely new space economy.
Amidst these trends, we will now have a look at the Philippe Laffont Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks.
Our Methodology
To list the Philippe Laffont Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks, we selected the top 10 stocks in Coatue Management’s portfolio as per its Q4 2024 13F filing. We settled on the hedge fund’s 10 biggest holdings. Finally, we ranked the stocks in ascending order based on the value of Coatue Management’s equity stakes. Additionally, we have mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around each stock, as of Q4 2024.
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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Coatue Management’s Stake Value: $2.15 billion
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 262
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s investments in AI are poised to fuel significant revenue growth throughout its platforms. AI-driven advertising solutions can improve ad targeting, enhance user experience, and result in increased advertiser return on investment (ROI). Furthermore, the development of generative AI tools can create new possibilities for content creation and user engagement. These tools can result in more user time spent on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s platforms, resulting in significant opportunities for advertising and new revenue streams via AI-powered services.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s new products and AI-driven services also provide strong monetization opportunities. The next growth opportunity is expected to be driven by Threads, its text-based conversation app. It can become a valuable advertising channel, mainly for brands that focus on engaging in real-time conversations with consumers. AI-driven services can establish new revenue streams in the broader enterprise market. Such services can span from AI-powered customer service solutions to advanced analytics tools for businesses.
Hardman Johnston Global Advisors, an investment management company, released a Q3 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:
“During the quarter, we initiated one new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and had no liquidations. Management at Meta has effectively addressed concerns about investment efficiency by shifting resources from Reality Labs towards broader AI initiatives with a clearer path to profitability. We believe management has successfully articulated the benefits of this strategy, highlighting how AI is driving user engagement and advertiser productivity. This, in turn, fuels continued revenue momentum and increases the likelihood of positive earnings surprises in the future. Additionally, the parent company of the social media platform, Facebook, has recently taken positive steps to enhance safety, which suggests to us a shift towards a more proactive and responsive approach to addressing important potential challenges and concerns. Weak oversight over data privacy protection was a key reason why we sold the position in the portfolio back in 2021. Removing this governance overhang allows us to feel comfortable to enter back into the stock at a time when we believe it is poised for strong earnings growth going forward.”
Overall, META ranks 2nd on our list of top 10 stock picks of Philippe Laffont’s stock portfolio. While we acknowledge the potential of META as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than META 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.
