Philippe Laffont Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks

4. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Coatue Management’s Stake Value: $1.48 billion

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 317

Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth upped the price target on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s stock to $595 from $550, keeping a “Buy” rating. Ongoing AI development and integration can fuel growth throughout all the key business lines, says the analyst. The research firm lauded Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s strategic incorporation of ChatGPT and other AI functionalities in the products and services.  The integration can enhance the company’s business performance and can also ramp up the ongoing digital transformation on a global scale. The firm believes that the deployment of AI throughout Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s product lines, together with the sustained expansion of cloud infrastructure and increasing customer adoption of AI solutions, can contribute to accelerating business performance.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s focus on integrating AI into business operations and product offerings can place it well as a critical player in the digital transformation landscape, which the research firm sees as a compelling investment opportunity. Elsewhere, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) received a “Sector Outperform” rating from Scotiabank, with a price objective of $470. The bank remains optimistic about the company’s investments in AI, mainly in its Azure and Microsoft 365 Copilot offerings, which can fuel healthy growth.

Mairs & Power, an investment advisor, released the Q4 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:

“Unlike the dot-com companies that operated at the turn-of-the-century, many of today’s technology companies are established businesses with significant cash flows. We have argued, and continue to argue, that many of these investments are perfectly aligned with our investments process in that they embody durable competitive advantages, above-average growth prospects, and excellent management teams.

A perfect example is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which has grown to become the largest holding in the Growth Fund. Microsoft has a near monopoly on the office software productivity market with its Microsoft Office Suite. The company’s Azure platform is a leader in cloud computing and has been steadily gaining share. Thanks to its Office and Azure products, the company is deeply embedded within many enterprise IT ecosystems. Therefore, it should be well-positioned to expand its presence within its customer base, as it rolls out premium-price AI solutions. The company is not resting on its laurels and plans on spending an astounding $80 billion in 2025 to build out AI data centers.”