We recently published a list of Cathie Wood’s 11 Favorite AI Stocks. Since NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) ranks 5th on the list, it deserves a deeper look.
Cathie Wood’s flagship fund is continuing to face steep losses amid a broader pullback in technology stocks. Wood’s flagship fund ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKK) is down about 18% so far this year and has lost about 75% of its value since hitting its peak in 2021. However, the latest data shows that the innovation-focused investor bought the dip on tech stocks after the latest selloff that shook financial markets globally.
Investors have pulled about $2.2 billion from ARK funds in 2024. The fund is on track to post its worst year of investor exodus since 2014. But Cathie Wood is doubling down on her innovation bets and is hopeful the upcoming rate cuts will be positive for the stock market.
Cathie Wood Says “Something Is Changing” and the Fed is Now on “High Alert”
Talking about the market situation, Cathie Wood said in a latest video on her YouTube channel that the recent selloff shows the market is going through a “cathartic” phase and “something is changing.”
“I do believe that the Fed now is on high alert because the stock market seemed to be encouraging the Fed to hold tight, higher for longer, make sure that the inflation was out of the system.”
Cathie Wood said that corporations are now in a weaker position amid high rates and they will initiate layoffs to cut costs and increase productivity. This weak employment situation could encourage the Federal Reserve to start cutting rates, according to Wood.
“Interest rates coming down should be very positive for the equity markets, but they will not arrest a recession very quickly. In fact, if consumers and businesses know that interest rates and maybe prices will be coming down, what will they do? They will wait.”
Cathie Wood’s ARK has posted its latest stock holdings data as of the end of the June quarter. For this article we scanned the fund’s latest portfolio and picked 11 AI stocks it has positions in. 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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Cathie Wood’s Latest Stake Value: $51,601,052
Cathie Wood missed on the NVDA opportunity as she sold about 62% of her stake in the last quarter of 2022, when the AI rally was just getting started. As of the end of June, she still owns a $51.6 million stake in the company.
NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares are on the decline amid valuation concerns. However, Morgan Stanley re-added the stock to its top picks list. Analyst Joseph Moore said:
“Visibility will actually increase as demand moves from Hopper to Blackwell, as the constraint will shift back to silicon; H100 lead times are short, but H200 lead times are already long, and Blackwell should be even longer,” the firm said.
However, the latest big tech earnings have raised some concerns on NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) future growth trajectory. The company’s major customers including Meta Platforms and Alphabet have indicated that they may be overbuilding and overspending on AI chips. NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) is selling about 2 million of its GPUs on an annual basis based on 2023 data. As demand moderates and competitors up their production, the company won’t be able to sustain its current growth trajectory.
Raymond James analyst Javed Mirza recently said in a report that NVDA has “triggered a mechanical sell signal” based on a moving average convergence/divergence indicator. In a technical analysis report, he stated that the stock is trading below its 50-day moving average and exhibiting early signs of selling pressure. This, according to Mirza, shows there is a looming corrective phase lasting 1-3 months. He added that a sustained break below the 50-day moving average could lead to a decline towards 94.94, representing a further 16.9% drop from current levels.
Patient Capital Opportunity Equity Strategy stated the following regarding NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) continued to lead both the market and the portfolio, remaining a top performer in the period gaining 36.7%. Nvidia is the market leader in designing and selling Graphics Processing Units (GPU), which has recently benefited from the insatiable demand of artificial intelligence (AI) models. The company currently captures 92% market share of data center GPUs and grew revenue, earnings and free cash flow (“FCF”) an astounding 126%, 392%, and 610%, respectively, over the last year. While we expect competition to increase, we think NVDA can continue to maintain top market share. While many are concerned with backlog times shortening, we think the rollout of the B100, which promises 2.5x better performance for only 25% more cost, later this year will create more shortages. With leading edge technology, an increasing innovation cycle and strong cash generation, the company is well positioned for the increased adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).”
Overall, NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) ranks 5th on Insider Monkey’s list titled Cathie Wood’s 11 Favorite AI Stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), 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 more promising than NVDA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
