Priceline, Tripadvisor, and More: Billionaire Julian Robertson’s New Stock Picks

Julian Robertson became a billionaire due to his high returns at Tiger Management, and his legacy continues through the Tiger Cub funds currently run by his former employees, his media appearances, and his quarterly 13F filings disclosing many of his long equity positions. By comparing his most recent 13F with the one for the end of June, we can see what new stocks Robertson had bought. Read on for our quick take on five stocks that the legendary investor added to his portfolio during the third quarter or see the full list of Robertson’s stock picks.

The largest new holding in Robertson’s portfolio was Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR). The cable, Internet, and phone company has been unprofitable on a trailing basis, and is expected to have very low earnings in 2013. The company is expected to improve despite its current trajectory not looking particularly strong: in the third quarter of 2012, revenue was up only 4% from the same period in 2011. Fellow billionaire Howard Marks’ Oaktree Capital Management had over $1 billion invested in Charter at the end of September (check out more of Marks’ favorite stocks), making it the largest position on Oaktree’s portfolio as well as Robertson’s largest new pick. We think that we’d like to watch the company and wait for it to see a quarter or two of profitability.

A number of Tiger Cubs had already been in Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN)– billionaire Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital increased its stake by 26% during the third quarter to a total of 1.4 million shares (find more stocks Mandel has been buying)– and apparently they convinced their mentor to buy some shares. Robertson initiated a position of about 20,000 shares. Priceline, which recently purchased Kayak, currently trades at 18 times forward earnings estimates. Earnings were up 27% last quarter versus a year earlier, based on increases in both revenue and margins. We think that it’s well worth considering in terms of “growth at a reasonable price.”