Harding Loevner, an asset management company, released its “Global Developed Markets Equity Strategy” fourth-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. International stock markets concluded the last quarter of 2024 on a negative note, although US stocks significantly surpassed the rest of the world, during the year and the quarter. The fund declined by -0.99% gross of fee in the fourth quarter compared to a -0.07% decline in the MSCI World Index. For the full year, the strategy rose 15.2%, lagging the benchmark’s 19.2% gain. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Harding Loevner Global Developed Markets Equity Strategy emphasized stocks such as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) provides consumer products, advertising, and subscription services through online and physical stores that operate through North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) segments. The one-month return of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was -10.46%, and its shares lost 3.60% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 3, 2025, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock closed at $178.41 per share with a market capitalization of $1.891 trillion.
Harding Loevner Global Developed Markets Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“During the quarter, we benefited from strong stocks within the Communication Services and Consumer Discretionary sectors. In Consumer Discretionary, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) reported strong third-quarter results. Revenue increased by double digits, led by growth in advertising and Al products, while the company’s operating margins also hit an all-time high of 11%. The key reasons for the higher margins were that its international e-commerce operations turned profitable, and there was faster growth in its high-margin cloud-computing business.”
A customer entering an internet retail store, illustrating the convenience of online shopping.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is in first position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 339 hedge fund portfolios held Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 286 in the third quarter. In Q4 2024, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) achieved global revenue of $187.8 billion, representing an 11% year-over-year growth excluding the impact of foreign exchange. While we acknowledge the potential of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) 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.
We covered Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in another article, where we shared the list of top stocks to watch as investors brace for a potential recession. 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.