Prominent Tech Stocks Dominate Beech Hill’s Portfolio

Beech Hill Partners is a New York-based investment firm run by Paul Cantor, Joseph Weiss, and Will Wurm. The fund manages a public equity portfolio worth over $163.45 million as of September 30, with 28% of that value being invested in technology stocks, far more than any other industry.

Beech Hill has now disclosed its third quarter moves in its latest 13F filing with the SEC. Given its penchant for tech stocks, let’s take a look at how the fund played its top tech picks during the quarter, and how they’ve performed so far in the fourth quarter.

At Insider Monkey, we track more than 750 hedge funds, whose 13F filings we analyze as part of our small-cap strategy. Our research has shown that imitating a portfolio that includes the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds can outperform the market by as much as 95 basis points per month on average (see more details).

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)

– Shares Owned by Beech Hill Partners (as of September 30): 132,695

– Value of Beech Hill Partners’ Holding (as of September 30): $5.01 million

Beech Hill added 7,725 shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) to its position in the third quarter, upping its stake in the Santa Clara, California-based semiconductor company to 132,695 shares. Intel reported its third quarter earnings on October 18, which came in at income of $0.80 per share on $15.8 billion in revenue, well above the bottom-line estimates of $0.72, while being in-line with top-line expectations. However, its fourth quarter revenue estimate came in at $15.7 billion, below the Street’s estimate of $15.86 billion. Intel said the guidance was lower than estimates due to initial costs related to the company’s new manufacturing processor. The stock is down by 6% in the fourth quarter. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management owned over 19.38 million shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) at the end of September.

QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)

– Shares Owned by Beech Hill Partners (as of September 30): 73,251

– Value of Beech Hill Partners’ Holding (as of September 30): $5.02 million

Beech Hill had 73,251 shares of California-based semiconductor giant QUALCOMM in its portfolio at the end of the third quarter, down by a mere 25 shares quarter-over-quarter. Last week, it was reported that QUALCOMM and NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) had reached a handshake deal according to which QUALCOMM will pay about $40 billion, or $110 per share, to acquire NXP Semiconductors, in an all-cash deal. However, the deal is not finalized yet, as both companies are working on the ‘specifics’ of the agreement. The deal will be the biggest ever in the semiconductor industry should it be consummated. The deal exemplifies QUALCOMM’s efforts to trim its reliance on the smartphone market and shift towards modems and processors for other applications. Shares of QUALCOMM are down marginally this month.

At the end of the third quarter, Fisher Asset Management owned over 9.69 million shares of QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM).

On the next page we’ll discuss the rest of Beech Hill’s top tech picks for the fourth quarter.

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Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

– Shares Owned by Beech Hill Partners (as of September 30): 6,984 class A shares/ 319 class C shares

– Value of Beech Hill Partners’ Holding (as of September 30): $5.62 million

Beech Hill sold 203 class A shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the third quarter, while its position in Alphabet’s class C shares was left unchanged. Earlier this month, Credit Suisse raised its price target on Google to $1,070 from $940, after previewing the third quarter performance of the company. Alphabet is scheduled to release its third quarter earnings on Thursday, with analysts expecting EPS of $8.63 on revenue of $17.99 billion, according to FactSet. Alphabet recently acquired FameBit, a platform that connects video makers with marketers and advertisers. Alphabet’s class A shares have gained 3.66% this month. At the end of the June quarter, 135 investors held class A shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), while 128 investors were long its class C shares.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)

– Shares Owned by Beech Hill Partners (as of September 30): 59,770

– Value of Beech Hill Partners’ Holding (as of September 30): $7.67 million

Beech Hill Partners reported ownership of 59,770 shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) as of the end of the third quarter, down by 4% compared to the size of its position a quarter earlier. Facebook will announce its own third quarter results on November 2. On Sunday, Jefferies Group reaffirmed a ‘Buy’ rating for Facebook, with a price target of $170. Facebook recently announced several new features and tools, including Facebook Workplace, a potential rival of Slack; a feature to buy tickets and order food online; and a new ads campaign. At the end of the second quarter, 148 hedge funds in our database held stakes in Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), compared to 164 funds at the end of March. Facebook shares have gained 3.61% in the fourth quarter.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

– Shares Owned by Beech Hill Partners (as of September 30): 83,802

– Value of Beech Hill Partners’ Holding (as of September 30): $9.47 million

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) remains the top tech stock in Beech Hill’s portfolio as of the end of the third quarter, and its top pick overall, after the fund trimmed 2% of its stake in the company during the third quarter. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is set to announce its fiscal fourth quarter results on Tuesday, and could be poised to make a huge earnings move. Appl will also launch new Macs on Thursday. The company has faced a decline in iPhone sales in recent quarters and its market share in China is dwindling as competitors like Xiaomi continue to make advanced products at lower prices. Apple’s latest earnings will help investors gauge the extent to which iPhone 7 helped Apple rebound to its dominant ways. Investors are expecting that iPhone sales will get a boost due to the Samsung Note 7 fiasco, which should help its momentum immensely. Apple shares are up by 3.71% in October. A total of 116 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of June, down from 152 funds a quarter earlier.

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