In this article, we discuss Philippe Laffont and his top 5 stock picks. If you want to read about some more stocks in the Laffont portfolio, go directly to Philippe Laffont Stock Portfolio: 10 Top Stock Picks.
5. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 300
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a Washington-based technology company. Latest 13F filings show that Coatue Management owned 3.8 million shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) at the end of September 2023 worth $1.2 billion, representing 6.14% of the portfolio.
On November 20, investment advisory Macquarie maintained an Outperform rating on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock with a price target of $405, noting the firm might have just pulled off a coup by hiring Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.
Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Texas-based investment firm Fisher Asset Management is a leading shareholder in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) with 24 million shares worth more than $7.8 billion.
In its Q3 2023 investor letter, Jackson Peak Capital, an investment management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“The Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)/Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) merger arbitrage came to a successful conclusion with the court denying the FTC’s preliminary injunction request. The deal subsequently received approval from the UK CMA and closed in October. The ATVI position was an example of “staying around the hoop” of a significant arb opportunity. At first, the position led to a small loss in Q2 when the UK CMA initially blocked the deal in April, but we stayed close to the case, analyzed the FTC trial and scaled up the ATVI position as it became apparent FTC had a weak case, meaning the probability of the deal going through was mispriced by the market since the companies would likely find a solution to work with the UK CMA (only global regulator who had an issue) if the FTC lost.”
4. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 112
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is a semiconductor firm. Latest data shows that Coatue Management owned 12 million shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) at the end of the third quarter of 2023 worth $1.2 billion, representing 6.50% of the portfolio.
On November 13, investment advisory Roth MKM initiated coverage of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) with a Buy rating and a price target of $125, noting the firm had a differentiated portfolio of high-performance compute and networking processors.
Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Texas-based investment firm Fisher Asset Management is a leading shareholder in Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) with 27 million shares worth more than $2.8 billion.
3. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 278
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is a diversified technology firm with core interests in ecommerce. Securities filings show that Coatue Management owned 10.6 million shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) at the end of September 2023 worth $1.3 billion, representing 6.84% of the portfolio.
On November 10, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth maintained a Buy rating on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock and raised the price target to $210 from $204.
Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Chicago-based investment firm Citadel Investment Group is a leading shareholder in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) with 34 million shares worth more than $4.3 billion.
In its Q3 2023 investor letter, Polen Capital, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“Amazon continues to showcase it’s place as one of the most competitively advantaged companies in the world. The company has made significant progress in managing costs and better leveraging existing capacity, driving a strong recovery in its profitability. We think there’s additional room for improvement.
AWS growth seems to be stabilizing even while management continues to work with clients to optimize their infrastructure spend. Roughly 90% of global IT spending remains on premise. We believe this will eventually flip, with most IT spending ultimately moving to the cloud over time. We think AWS will be a significant beneficiary of this transition.
Further, our investment case on company profitability driven by AWS and advertising continues to unfold, delivering nearly $8 billion in free cash flow over the trailing twelve months and a net margin of 5%. We expect both to move higher with the mix shift of more profitable businesses growing fastest continuing to take effect.
At Amazon’s current price, we believe the company is well positioned to deliver a mid-teens or higher total shareholder return for our clients over the next five plus years without a Herculean effort from the business. It simply needs to continue executing on current businesses and growing into the capacity it built during and immediately after the pandemic.”
2. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 225
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is a tech firm that owns and runs social media platforms. Latest 13F filings show that Coatue Management owned 6 million shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) at the end of September 2023 worth $1.8 billion, representing 9.40% of the portfolio of the fund.
At the end of the second quarter of 2023, 225 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $30 billion in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), compared to 220 in the preceding quarter worth $25 billion.
In its Q3 2023 investor letter, Weitz Investment Management, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“As for other quarterly contributors, Alphabet, Inc., (GOOG) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) added to their exceptional year-to-date returns. Meta Platforms and Alphabet were the true year-to-date standouts. After steep declines in 2022, both stocks rebounded sharply due to a combination of solid fundamentals, disciplined operational execution, and improved sentiment. Despite outsized gains and attention, we think both Alphabet and Meta remain undervalued.”
1. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 175
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) provides graphics, computing and networking solutions. Latest data shows that Coatue Management owned 4.5 million shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) at the end of the third quarter of 2023 worth $1.9 billion, representing 10.02% of the portfolio.
On November 13, investment advisory Wolfe maintained an Outperform rating on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock with a price target of $630.
Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Chicago-based investment firm Citadel Investment Group is a leading shareholder in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) with 20 million shares worth more than $8.8 billion.
Just like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the stocks that Israel Englander is betting against.
In its Q3 2023 investor letter, Baron Funds, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
“At the portfolio level, the positive fundamental trends we noticed in the second quarter continued into the third quarter as well – many of our companies are reporting stability or slight improvement in business trends. Weighted average 2023 revenue growth expectations for the portfolio were up 3.8% during the third quarter or up 0.8% if we exclude NVIDIA. We wrote at length about NVIDIA earlier this year, but it is worth mentioning that the company has continued to exceed its own projections and the Street’s most optimistic expectations. After raising its revenue and EPS guidance for 2023 by 40% and 69%, respectively, following its last quarter, NVIDIA increased it further by 26% and 35%, respectively, after reporting the most recent one. Consensus expectations now call for revenues to grow 94% this year, while earnings per share are expected to increase by 192%. You may have seen these kinds of growth rates before, but we doubt you saw them from a company generating $50 billion in revenues. The skeptics who continue to question and doubt the accelerating demand for Generative artificial intelligence forgot to tell NVIDIA about it. But we digress…back to the portfolio…profit expectations have risen even faster than revenues and were up 11% during the third quarter (or up 7.8% ex-NVIDIA) with margin expectations up 149bps (107bps ex-NVIDIA). So, broadly speaking, our companies are seeing improvement in overall business trends, which flow through to their bottom lines, driving higher margins. We are also starting to see the benefits of leaner cost structures and more disciplined capital allocation compared to two or three years ago when capital was both cheaper and more readily available.”
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