We recently compiled a list of the 11 Best Ice Cream Stocks to Invest In 2024. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) stands against the other ice cream stocks.
Regarded as the most favorite dessert globally, ice cream has its popularity game quite high in the U.S. as well, where it leaves an impact of a massive $11.4 billion every year, while, at the same time, giving out $1.9 billion in direct wages, according to IDFA! Also, the U.S. saw 1.3 billion gallons of ice cream getting produced in the country in 2023, showcasing the dessert’s staggering popularity in the country. For all the ice cream lovers, we have also curated a list which you can view to see all the best ice cream brands in the U.S. so that you can fulfill all your ice cream cravings in the best way!
In addition to this, average per capita consumption in the country amounts to over 4 gallons every year, and with a huge population of 341 million, that’s quite a lot of consumption! In terms of consumption, New Zealand, the U.S., and Australia are the 3 countries that top the charts, with per capita annual consumption rates of 28.4 liters, 20.8 liters, and 18.0 liters, respectively!
As such, the global ice cream industry is racing quickly toward the sky, as, after sitting at the $76.1 billion mark in 2023, it’s on its way to hitting $132.3 billion in 2032. That boasts a CAGR of 6.7%, which is quite staggering, according to Fortune Business Insights. Ice cream-making giants like Ben & Jerry’s, Wall’s, Magnum, to name a few, dominate the global ice cream industry with a market share of 20%.
Also check out 15 largest Ice Cream Companies in the World.
Moving on to recent shifting trends of the industry, one interesting trend that has emerged related to flavors, wherein, plant-based and vegan ice creams are growing in popularity. As reported by Straits Research, the global vegan ice cream market size is expected to expand from its market size figure of $623.63 million in 2022 to $984.16 million by 2031, boasting a CAGR of 5.2%. Furthermore, ice creams are planned to be given a new touch by the makers by bringing in the element of spice in ice creams! Crazy, right? In Germany, it is reported by Tetrapak that 34% of ice cream consumers are keen on trying out ice cream flavors with spice in them.
With these innovations emerging, the global ice cream industry is expected to generate over $100 billion in the coming decade, and with the given demand stats we discussed above, it’s quite certain how the ice cream market is one to look at in 2024 and the coming years. Hence, here we are going to discuss 11 Best Ice Cream Stocks to Invest In 2024 so that one can capitalize on the booming times to come in the ice cream industry.
Methodology
To curate our list of 11 Best Ice Cream Stocks to Invest In 2024, we gathered a list of all companies with a significant presence in the ice cream industry. We then further narrowed down on the basis of their upside potential and ranked the finest remaining companies by their number of hedge fund holders as of Q1, 2024, using Insider Monkey’s database that tracks the activity of 920 hedge funds. For stocks with equal number of hedge fund holders, we used their upside as the tiebreaker.
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 team of insurance professionals in a boardroom overlooking a city skyline.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors’ holdings: 119
The number 1 stock on our list of 11 Best Ice Cream Stocks to Invest In 2024 is Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), which is a multinational conglomerate company based in the USA. It owns the big ice cream brand, Dairy Queen.
Analysts are eying a price target of $465.1, as compared to its current price of $404.75, as of writing this article – that’s an upside potential of approximately 15%!
Recently, Berkshire Hathaway took a position in LNG market by buying Dominion Energy’s share of the Maryland-based Cove Point LNG export plant in 2023, and with LNG market expecting a boom in coming 5 years – the market capacity is expected to grow 5 times from 2024 to 2028 – Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s (NYSE:BRK.A) stock is definitely one to keep.
As of Q1, 2024, 119 hedge funds in our database at Insider Monkey hold positions in the stock, with a massive value of $16 billion!
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and Gardner Russo & Gardner hold the biggest stakes in the stock, carrying values of $7.3 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively! To keep the recent performance of the stock in the picture, one must note that the stock performed better than the S&P 500 in the 1st quarter of 2024, as it recorded a gain of 17.9%, while the S&P 500 return was 10.6%.
Overall BRK.A ranks 1st on our list of the best ice cream stocks to buy. You can visit 11 Best Ice Cream Stocks to Invest In 2024 to see the other ice cream stocks that are on hedge funds’ radar. While we acknowledge the potential of BRK.A 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 more promising than BRK.A 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.