In this piece, we will take a look at Top 10 Stocks in Ken Griffin’s Portfolio to Buy According to Analysts.
Ken Griffin is one billionaire investor wary of the negative impact of US President Donald Trump’s combative approach to trade policy. Aggressive trade tariffs in the push to try and settle trade imbalances between the US and other nations have sent shockwaves in the equity markets. Likewise, Griffin believes the damage has already been done, given that the broader equity market has already pulled back significantly since Trump assumed office on January 20, 2025.
“From my vantage point, the bombastic rhetoric, the damage has already been done,” Griffin said Tuesday at the UBS Financial Services Conference in Key Biscayne, Florida. “It’s a huge mistake to resort to this form of rhetoric when you’re trying to drive a bargain because … it tears into the minds of CEOs, policymakers that we can’t depend upon America, as our trading partner.”
The billionaire hedge fund manager’s remarks followed Trump’s signing of an order imposing 25% import duties on steel and aluminum. According to Ken Griffin, Trump’s trade policies have the potential to affect long-term investments for multinational companies. Companies are increasingly slowing down their investments, especially abroad, worried about the long-term impact of trade tariffs.
READ ALSO: Top 10 Growth Stocks in David Tepper’s Portfolio and Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Top 13 Growth Stock Picks.
“It makes it difficult for multinationals, in particular, to think about how to plan for the next five, 10, 15, 20 years, particularly when it comes to long lead time capital investments that could be adversely impacted by a degradation of the current terms of engagement as amongst the leading Western countries when it comes to terms and trade,” he said.
The remarks come on the Fed opting to go slow on interest rate cuts for the second straight meeting after conducting three consecutive rate reductions beginning September 2024. The central bank opted to maintain the benchmark rate at 4.5%, wary of inflation ticking higher amid the ongoing trade war between the US and other countries.
According to the US central bank, GDP growth will slow in 2025, and core inflation will be higher. This partially reflects the anticipated effects of the retaliatory actions and newly imposed U.S. tariffs. The US central bank is going slow on interest rate cuts, and the warning of a potential economic growth slowdown has rattled the equity markets.
After years of blockbuster gains, the S&P 500 has pulled back significantly from record highs. Investors remain wary of the uncertainties triggered by the ongoing trade war and its potential impact, especially on economic growth. It remains to be seen if Citadel Investment Group will continue to average the 19% gain it has accrued annually over the years amid the choppy markets.
Amid the concerns, billionaire investor Ken Griffin remains bullish on some equity plays he believes are well-positioned to benefit amid the current investment environment. While Griffin’s investment portfolio in Citadel Investment Group boasts significant exposure to tech stocks, its $577.87 billion portfolio value also boasts significant stakes in the services healthcare and basic materials sector. The diversification play is one of Griffin ’s investment strategies focusing on identifying and investing in equities expected to provide strong performance relative to the benchmark index. As co-chief investment officer and executive chairman, Griffin plays an active role in the hedge fund’s investment strategy.
Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group
Our Methodology
We combed Citadel Investment Group’s SEC Q4 2024 13F filings to identify the top 10 stocks in Ken Griffin’s portfolio to buy, according to analysts. From the resultant data, we settled on the top 10 picks trading at significant discounts but with significant upside potential (more than 40%), according to Wall Street Analysts (as of April 11). Finally, we ranked the stocks in ascending order based on their upside potential while also detailing hedge fund sentiments regarding the stocks.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Top 10 Stocks in Ken Griffin’s Portfolio to Buy According to Analysts
10. Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45
Stock Upside Potential as of April 11: 45.49%
Citadel Investment Group’s Equity Stakes: $58,919,486
Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) is a technology company that designs, manufactures, and sells high-performance and efficient server and storage solutions for various markets, including data centers, cloud computing, and AI. While the stock was under immense pressure, going down by 64% in 2024, it is showing signs of bottoming out, going by the 12.08% year-to-date gain.
The bounce back comes as Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) increasingly benefits from the artificial intelligence boom. Its competitive edge stems from making parts of server racks that are increasingly being used to house and cool GPUs, which have emerged as a key part of AI infrastructure. GPUs may now be cooled using liquid rather than air, thanks to its direct liquid cooling (DLC) technology. The system uses 80% less space and saves its customers 40% on energy bills. The new Blackwell GPU architecture from Nvidia is one of the main drivers of Supermicro’s growth. Since Supermicro’s DLC was designed with Blackwell in mind, the company is poised to profit from the sale of Nvidia’s Blackwell GPUs.
Super Micro Computer, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:SMCI) revenues in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 were $5.7 billion, a 55% increase over the same period last year. For the third quarter, management expects revenue of between $5 billion and $6 billion, or roughly 43% growth. It is anticipated that this growth surge will continue for a while.
9. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 186
Stock Upside Potential as of April 11: 59.35%
Citadel Investment Group’s Equity Stakes: $241,327,843
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) is a tech giant focusing on developing and producing advanced chips for some big tech companies. Its biggest clients include Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm, affirming a reliable business and revenue stream. According to analysts, TSM is one of the top stocks in Ken Griffin’s portfolio to buy due to its solid growth prospects amid growing demand for chips for artificial intelligence workloads.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) reported revenue of $26.9 billion for Q4 2024, reflecting a 37% increase compared to the same quarter the previous year. Full-year revenue was up 30% to just over $90 billion. It expects its first quarter 2025 revenues to range between $25 billion and $25.8 billion. On the other hand, management expects revenue to grow by an average of 20% annually over the next five years.
Additionally, gross margin is expected to reach 58% in the upcoming quarter, a notable rise from the 53.1% recorded in the same quarter last year. In the long term, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) predicts that revenue from artificial intelligence (AI) chips will likely grow at an average of 40% over the next five years.
