We recently published a list of Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller’s Top 10 Stock Picks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) stands against other stock picks of Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller.
Druckenmiller on the Fed’s Actions
On November 6, billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller appeared in a podcast, In Good Company, hosted by Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management. Druckenmiller shared his opinion on the easing cycle and the role of the Fed in the current economic backdrop. He shared that he is primarily keeping a close look at companies and is not seeing any signs of weakness, other than the housing market, that too because of elevated price levels. He also added that for the next 3 to 6 months, he does not expect any economic problems to overshadow the market.
Druckenmiller emphasized that the financial conditions are of more interest to him and that they have been very “loose, looser than they were when the Fed actually started tightening.” He is also particularly interested to see if the market is currently in the “70s rally since 2021” when the inflationary period started, expressing his concerns over inflation moving forward. In addition to inflationary concerns, Druckenmiller is also worried that the Fed had declared victory a tad bit early, lacking confidence in the current market backdrop.
He believes that with a 50 basis point cut, roaring equities, and no material weakness, the market may turn up again. Druckenmiller added that the Fed is “obsessed” with a soft landing and emphasized that “fine-tuning” and “worrying about a soft landing” is not their job. The reason why there is an urgency for a soft landing is because the Fed let the inflation rate jump in the first place, he added. Speaking of the Fed’s actions and forward guidance, Druckenmiller highlighted that the Fed believes that if it changes its due course of action, it may lose credibility, leaving its hands tied.
Stanley Druckenmiller is an American billionaire, investor, and founder of Duquesne Capital, with a net worth of $6.9 billion, as of December 14, 2024. Druckenmiller has made a fortune as a hedge fund manager for 30 big years and now manages money from his family office. He also worked with George Soros until 2000, a renowned investor known for shorting the pound in 1992. He also shares interesting opinions on the money market and the economy. In Q3 2024, Druckenmiller initiated 33 new positions, ending the quarter with a portfolio of $2.95 billion in 13F securities. With that, let’s discuss his top stock picks as of Q3 2024.
Our Methodology
We scanned Duquesne Capital’s Q3 2024 portfolio and picked the fund’s top 13F holdings. Additionally, we’ve also added overall hedge fund sentiment for each stock, as of Q3 2024.
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).
A close-up of a fuel pump operated by a robotic arm, symbolizing the company’s technology-driven industrial solutions.
Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD)
Duquesne Capital’s Stake Value: $181,409,000
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 32
Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) is a control solutions innovator that makes control systems and control system components for aircraft engines, industrial engines, turbines, power generation, and mobile industrial equipment. The company has over 30 locations, more than 10,000 members around the world, and nearly 224 worldwide distributors.
As per the company’s annual report for the fiscal year 2024, Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) reported that consolidated revenues exceeded $3 billion for the first time followed by a record level of earnings per share. At the same time, the company transformed its supplier simplification strategy using automation technologies, allowing it to become a first choice among customers and to empower suppliers.
Woodward’s (NASDAQ:WWD) race to become a technology-empowered company is its economic moat and is evident from its success in its aerospace segment. The segment saw an increase in sales by approximately 15% with nearly 260 basis points of margin expansion relative to the same period last year. During the year, the company was signed for key programs such as the NASA and Boeing Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Demonstrator and JetZero Blended Wing Body Program, explaining its growing position in the industry.
Overall, WWD ranks 4th on our list of Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller’s stock picks. While we acknowledge the potential of WWD to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that certain AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WWD but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
