Parnassus Investments, an investment management company, released the “Parnassus Core Equity Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the fourth quarter, U.S. stocks rose, closing up a robust 2024. The Fund (Investor Shares) surged 0.28% (net of fees) in the quarter underperforming the S&P 500 Index’s 2.41% return. For the year, the fund returned 18.52% (net of fees) compared to S&P 500 Index’s 25.02%. Stocks soared after the U.S. presidential election as investors awaited the incoming administration’s business-friendly policies. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Parnassus Core Equity Fund emphasized stocks such as KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC). KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) designs, manufactures, and distributes process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries. The one-month return of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) was -11.50%, and its shares lost 3.56% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 11, 2025, KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) stock closed at $664.22 per share with a market capitalization of $90.081 billion.
Parnassus Core Equity Fund stated the following regarding KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“We also added several new positions, including two in Information Technology: Workday, a category leader for enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources, and KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC), a leader in semiconductor process control. KLA, a leader in semiconductor process control, benefits from inherently high switching costs, structurally higher demand for advanced semiconductors and increasingly complex semiconductor manufacturing. The company has a strong management team that is positioning it well for long-term growth. Concerns about weaker demand in China have impacted KLA’s stock price recently, but we believe the secular growth in other regions could offset the risk in the longer term.”
The inner workings of a semiconductor manufacturing facility, neon hued machines humming with activity.
KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 58 hedge fund portfolios held KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 61 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) 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 KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) and shared best GARP stocks to buy. 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.