Vltava Fund, an investment management company, recently released its fourth-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. It has been 16 years since the fund transitioned from its initial investment strategy to the current one. Throughout this entire time, the fund has achieved an average annual return of 12%. The letter discussed about the book Hidden Investment Treasures by Daniel Gladiš. The investment cases outlined in Hidden Investment Treasures account for over 80% of Vltava Fund’s current portfolio. This document offers a thorough and detailed overview of the fund’s joint holdings and the reasons behind investment choices. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Vltava Fund highlighted stocks like Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) offers manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The one-month return of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) was 5.74%, and its shares gained 17.74% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 7, 2025, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) stock closed at $177.82 per share with a market capitalization of $144.689 billion.
Vltava Fund stated the following regarding Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“In the quarter just ended, we added to the portfolio two new companies from the technology sector: Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Lam Research. Both are in the same industry as is another of our investments that we have held for some time, KLA Corporation. This industry is termed semiconductor devices and materials. One chapter in Hidden Investment Treasures is devoted to investing in technology companies and, among other things, the controversy over what really constitutes a technology company. As investors, we try to view technology companies not according to the industry into which they are formally classified but by whether the technologies and technological processes used in the production of their products and services are an essential element in value creation or if they are a source of long-term, sustainable competitive advantage. Among the companies that are formally categorized as technology-based and fall into either the Information Technology or the Communications Services sector, we find some that can be said to be just that but also others for which this classification is at least debatable. Similarly, among companies that do not formally belong to these two sectors, we find many that clearly are built to a large extent on technology and base their market positions and competitiveness on it. In the cases of Applied Materials and Lam Research, there can be no doubt that these are technology companies not only as a formality but also in fact.
Applied Materials provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software for the semiconductor, display, and related industries. Its principal business activities are semiconductor systems and Applied Global Services. Its largest customers are Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductors, but its overall clientele is more diversified than is that of Lam Research. At first glance, it would appear that Applied Materials has a somewhat less tangible and definable competitive advantage compared to KLA Corporation and Lam Research, but the numbers do not support such a view. Net margins likewise in the neighborhood of 27% and ROCE around 30% are outstanding. Basically, it can be said that all three companies we own have very similar underlying profitability metrics. Even their valuations, growth, and potential are similar. All have strong free cash flow and strong balance sheets, and they are regularly buying back their own shares over the long term and in large volumes…” (Click here to read the full text)
A technician in a clean room assembling a semiconductor chip using a microscope.
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 74 hedge fund portfolios held Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) at the end of the third quarter which was 77 in the previous quarter. In the fiscal year 2024, Applied Materials, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMAT) net sales were $27.2 billion, up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. While we acknowledge the potential of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we discussed Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) and shared Impax Global Environmental Markets Fund’s views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.