Top 5 Stocks in Lee Ainslie’s Portfolio

In this article, we discuss the top 5 stocks in Lee Ainslie’s portfolio. If you want to know more about Lee Ainslie, check out Lee Ainslie Washington Commanders and Other Investments.

5. NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 132
Maverick Capital % Portfolio:  3.25%

NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) has been a bright spot in the overall stock market amid its improved long-term prospects with the artificial intelligence revolution. The stock has more than tripled in value after a 230% rally making Nvidia a trillion-dollar company. The impressive run comes on strong demand for the company’s graphics processing Units GPU at the center of the AI revolution.

Likewise, Ainslie has benefited from the impressive rally as the stock accounts for about 3.25% of Maverick Capital’s portfolio. Susquehanna maintained a Positive rating on NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) and hiked the stock’s target price from $450 to $575 on July 20.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 132 hedge funds were bullish on NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), compared to 106 funds in the prior quarter. Rajiv Jain’s GQG Partners is a prominent stakeholder of the company, with 8.25 million shares worth $2.29 billion.

In the investor letter for the second quarter of 2023, Artisan Partners provided its assessment of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA):

“Top contributors to performance for the quarter included graphics semiconductor company NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). Nvidia rose after reporting strong results and forecasting significantly higher data center revenues for the coming quarter, driven by rising artificial intelligence investments around the world.

When we are successful in achieving disproportionate equity outcomes, we need a process for managing them. Entering this year, we had a ~6.5% position in Nvidia. Due to the enthusiasm for generative AI and a rapid conclusion to “cloud optimization,” the stock has surged 189.5% this year including 52.31% in Q2. We retained an investment in Nvidia with less capital at risk, an approach which afforded us the potential to prudently participate in excellent investments over long periods of time. Notably, despite our gradual position reductions, Nvidia has contributed 1491bps to performance since inception. In turn, these value pathways form the foundation upon which our risk management framework rests, and put us in position to execute our investment program in future periods of duress.”

4. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 243
Maverick Capital % Portfolio:  3.85%

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) accounts for 3.85% of Maverick Capital’s portfolio. Investments into the company offer exposure to a robust e-commerce business and cloud computing that account for the largest share of total revenues. The tech giant has been posting impressive numbers, with sales increasing 9% in Q1 as Amazon Web Services delivered a 16% sales increase. The tech giant is also betting on artificial intelligence as it looks to enhance its e-commerce business and lead with AWS.

Amazon has outperformed the overall market going by the 60% plus rally year to date. The consensus rating for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is a Strong Buy, which reflects 38 buy ratings, 1 hold rating and 0 sell rating.

According to Insider Monkey’s database, 243 hedge funds owned stakes in the company at the end of the first quarter, up from 240 in the preceding quarter. Natixis Global Asset Management’s Harris Associates held the biggest stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) at the end of Q1 2023 with 22.87 million shares.

In its investor letter for the second quarter of 2023, White Falcon Capital Management offered its insights regarding Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN):

“Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN): Amazon is a controversial investment. It had been ‘profitless’ for much of its existence and divided investors on the ultimate sustainability of the business model. We believe that Amazon has two very strong businesses – an e-commerce business (including ads) backed by a top-notch logistics network and an internet infrastructure business called AWS that is an oligopoly with Microsoft and Google. We believe Amazon has a superior culture that allows it to succeed in its various business lines. Importantly, Amazon is inflecting on free cash flow (FCF). We model that it will produce $6+ in FCF per share in three years. If this is valued at 3-3.5% FCF yield then Amazon is a $200 stock. Amazon also has a portfolio of venture bets (which consume a lot of capital) and all these are upside options for an investor.”

3. Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 220
Maverick Capital % Portfolio:  4.28%

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) develops products that help people connect and share with friends and family via mobile devices and personal computers. After coming under pressure last year, the company has seen its fortune improve in 2023 after an aggressive restructuring drive. The restructuring has resulted in massive layoffs and increased focus on artificial intelligence. Increased user engagement in its flagship apps has helped strengthen its advertising business amid increased ad spending.

Maverick Capital has seen its investment in Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) pay up as the stock is up by about 150% year to date. The stock accounts for about 4.28% of the hedge fund portfolio. Stifel’s Mark Kelley reiterated a Buy rating on Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and increased the stock’s target price from $280 to $336 on July 21.

According to Insider Monkey’s database, 220 hedge funds were long Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) as of Q1 2023. The total value of their holdings was $25.09 billion. Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management is a significant shareholder in the company, with 8.06 million shares valued at $1.71 billion.

In the investor letter for the second quarter of 2023, Wedgewood Partners shared its perspective on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META).

“Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was the top contributor to performance during the quarter. The Company managed to grow adjusted expenses more in line with revenue growth, which helped re-establish managements credibility with investors with respect to future profitability and returns. The Company also guided to accelerated revenue growth as product investments are beginning to bear fruit relative to easier comparisons from a year ago. Meta has been at the forefront of investing in some of the most valuable artificial intelligence IP extant, particularly with its ranking and recommendation systems that are in use across its suite of user-facing products and advertiser-facing tools. Despite the recent frenzy of attention around “Gen-AI,” Meta has been researching and developing generative-AI tools for years, so we don’t expect to see a large ramp up in expenses around this phenomenon. Although we trimmed Meta as positions reached our maximum weighting, it ended the quarter as our largest holding.”

2. Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 136
Maverick Capital % Portfolio: 4.4%

Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) is a company that offers customer relationship management technology that connects companies with customers worldwide. Its solutions allow companies to store data, monitor leads and progress, and forecast opportunities. It’s been one of the best-performing stocks rallying by nearly 70% year to date. Its sentiments have improved significantly on rolling out an array of artificial intelligence tools as it looks to strengthen its CRM technology. It has also announced a price increase for its tools, a move expected to bolster revenues and profit margins.

Salesforce is one of Maverick Capital’s biggest holdings, accounting for about 4.4% of the portfolio. Mizuho’s Gregg Moskowitz maintained a Buy rating on Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) and boosted the stock’s target price from $250 to $260 on July 20.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 136 hedge funds were bullish on Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM), compared to 117 funds in the prior quarter. Natixis Global Asset Management’s Harris Associates is the largest stakeholder of the company, with 7.71 million shares worth $1.54 billion.

In its investor letter for the first quarter of 2023, Harding Loevner provided an observation concerning Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM).

“It also signaled lower capital expenditures and increased share repurchases. Other tech companies, including Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), similarly benefited from plans to lower costs and increase profitability. Meanwhile, NVIDIA, the graphic-chips designer, surged amid investor enthusiasm over the potential commercial applications of artificial-intelligence technologies, such as ChatGPT, which requires the use of many chips.”

1. Coupang Inc (NYSE:CPNG)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47
Maverick Capital % Portfolio:  30.06%

Coupang Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) is one of the largest e-commerce companies operating through mobile and internet websites in South Korea. It sells products and services in various categories.  Like Amazon, Coupang Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) enjoys a competitive edge in enabling fast delivery speeds for goods on its platform as part of its same-day delivery program. Even though the company controls a single-digit share of the Korean retail market, there is tremendous room for growth, with the market expected to reach $550B in the next few years. It delivered impressive Q1 2023 results, with revenues jumping 20% to $5.8 billion. Net income increased by $300 million to $91 million.

The stock accounts for about 30.06% of Maverick’s portfolio and has gained nearly 20% year to date. The consensus rating for Coupang Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) is Moderate Buy, which consists of 5 buy ratings, 2 hold ratings and 1 sell rating.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 47 hedge funds were bullish on Coupang Inc (NYSE:CPNG), compared to 49 funds in the prior quarter. Lee Ainslie’ Maverick Capital is the largest stakeholder of the company, with 74.26 million shares worth $1.19 billion.

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