Insider Report

5 Best Stocks According to Citadel Billionaire Ken Griffin

by Senior Analyst

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)

Citadel Investment Group’s Stake Value: $254.91 million Percentage Of Citadel Investment Group’s 13F Portfolio: 0.05% Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 83

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) starts off our list of billionaire Ken Griffin’s favorite tech stocks. The California-based firm provides graphic cards, microprocessors, and motherboard chipsets that are used in PCs, smartphones, workstations, and data center servers around the world.

Ken Griffin’s stake in Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) during the first quarter consisted of 2.33 million shares valued at $254.9 million, representing 0.05% of his total portfolio. This was a 3% reduction over the previous quarter. In total, 83 hedge funds were long on the company shares at the close of the first quarter, up from 69 hedge funds a quarter ago. Fisher Asset Management increased his position in Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) by 23% in the first quarter, becoming its biggest shareholder with a $2.66 billion stake.

On June 22, Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore resumed coverage of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) with an ‘Overweight’ rating and a $103 price target. He sees the firm as well-positioned to post share gains over the next two years, and notes that it will continue to increase its share in the cloud services market as supply constraints ease.

In the first quarter, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) posted earnings per share of $1.13, surpassing Street estimates by $0.20. Revenue of $5.89 billion was also above estimates by $358.26 million.

Investment firm Carillon Tower Advisers talked about Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) in its Q4 2021 investor letter. Here’s what the fund said:

“Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) supplies semiconductor chips for central processing units (CPUs) and graphic processing units (GPUs). The firm has been gaining share against its primary competitor in the datacenter server CPU space, as this rival has been unable to match the design and manufacturing capabilities of AMD and its partners. Investors are also looking forward to the closing of the previously announced merger with a semiconductor manufacturer that is another one of the portfolio’s holdings. The merger will increase AMD’s capabilities in the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chip space, and the combined company should possess the potential to win additional market share in the datacenter chip market.”

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)

Citadel Investment Group’s Stake Value: $301.52 million Percentage Of Citadel Investment Group’s 13F Portfolio: 0.06% Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is a semiconductor manufacturer based in California, which operates through its segments: Semiconductor Solutions and Infrastructure Software. Ken Griffin increased his stake in the firm by 213% in the first quarter, standing at roughly 479,000 shares worth $301.5 million. In comparison, the billionaire owned 153,000 shares of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) a quarter ago.

On May 27, Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh reiterated a ‘Buy’ rating on Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) shares and raised the price target to $725 from $700. He holds that the company’s planned acquisition of VMware (NYSE:VMW), a US-based cloud computing company, potentially unlocks 45% upside. Financial Times recently reported that the deal is set to undergo a lengthy antitrust investigation in the EU over concerns it could possibly harm competition across the global tech industry.

Investors were seen piling into Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO). At the end of the first quarter, 71 hedge funds owned positions in the firm, as compared to 62 hedge funds a quarter earlier. Its largest Q1 shareholder was Fisher Asset Management with a position worth nearly $895 million.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) announced its Q1 earnings on May 26, and disclosed earnings per share of $9.07, beating estimates by $0.35. Quarterly revenue was recorded at $8.1 billion, exceeding market forecasts by $194.74 million and representing a 22.6% jump from the year-ago quarter.

 Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER)

Citadel Investment Group’s Stake Value: $338.03 million Percentage Of Citadel Investment Group’s 13F Portfolio: 0.06% Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 144

Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) is up next on the list of top tech stocks to buy according to Ken Griffin. The billionaire owned 9.47 million shares of the firm at the end of the first quarter, priced at around $338 million. This was a decrease of 37% over the previous quarter, where he owned roughly 14.91 million shares of Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER).

The popular ride-hailing firm has seen diminishing investor confidence as of late. At the close of Q1 2022, 144 hedge funds owned positions in Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER), as compared to 153 hedge funds a quarter earlier.

On June 9, Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan reduced the firm’s price target on Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) to $45 from $55, and maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares. The analyst has updated his model to reflect a greater probability of a weaker macro environment, and is taking a more conservative view on the ride-sharing and food delivery sectors. Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) recently announced that its popular ride-sharing feature called UberPool would be relaunching under the name UberX Share. This service was cancelled amid the Covid pandemic, and will now be available in a number of major US cities.

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, mentioned Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) in its Q3 2021 investor letter. Here’s what it said:

“We have also been looking for multiyear secular trends outside of the IT and Internet sectors to help us maintain a portfolio that can perform well in markets with varied sector or factor leadership. In particular, electrification of the global economy and the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) are areas where we continue to add exposure. We are investing in the brains behind EVs through NXP in the control center and Aptiv for safety features. Global rideshare leader Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) will also be a key player in the transition from internal combustion engines to EVs.”

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Citadel Investment Group’s Stake Value: $348.52 million Percentage Of Citadel Investment Group’s 13F Portfolio: 0.07% Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 159

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a digital payments company headquartered in California. Ken Griffin owned 1.57 million shares of the company at the end of March, worth $348.5 million. This was an increase in stake of 4% over the previous quarter, and amounted to a 0.07% slice of his overall portfolio.

Baird analyst David Koning on June 22 named Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) as his “bullish Fresh Pick”, and kept an ‘Outperform’ rating on the shares with a $290 price target. He noted that the firm would likely remain quite resilient in a recession-scenario given growing purchase volume. Koning is bullish on Visa stock as cross-border transactions and inflation provide ongoing growth drivers.

Investors were seen buying Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) stock. At the end of March, 159 hedge funds were long on the company shares, as compared to 142 hedge funds a quarter earlier. The combined value of Q1 hedge fund holdings stood at more than $28 billion. The largest shareholder of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) during the first quarter was TCI Fund Management with a $4.41 billion stake.

In the first quarter of 2022, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) reported earnings per share of $1.79, exceeding estimates by $0.14. $7.19 billion in revenue for the quarter registered year-on-year growth of 25.5% and also beat market forecasts by $365.4 million.

Here is what Polen Capital, an investment firm, had to say about Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“We added to both Visa and Mastercard during the final quarters of 2021, based on the belief that both businesses were trading at attractive prices and poised to deliver, double-digit returns over the next three to five years. Cross-border transactions–a highly profitable business segment for both companies–represent roughly 10% of Visa and Mastercard’s volumes and 25% of their gross revenues, so lockdowns have severely impacted this segment due to stifled travel. While it was impossible to know when people would begin traveling again, we accepted this reality with the belief that travel would eventually return. Both companies have commented that as soon as a country or geography reopens, cross-border volumes reignite, amplifying each business’s growth and profitability. We think these near- term headwinds have created an attractive long-term investment opportunity.”

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Citadel Investment Group’s Stake Value: $370.64 million Percentage Of Citadel Investment Group’s 13F Portfolio: 0.07% Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 80

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is an EV manufacturer based in the United States. The company stock represented 0.07% of Ken Griffin’s Q1 portfolio, with roughly 344,000 shares valued at $370.6 million. This showed an increase of 20% over the previous quarter where Griffin owned 289,000 Tesla shares.

On June 24, Credit Suisse analyst Dan Levy maintained an ‘Outperform’ rating on Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares and lowered the price target to $1,000 from $1,125. Despite forecasting lower than expected Q2 deliveries, the analyst retains a bullish outlook on Tesla and sees its long-term fundamentals remaining intact. He also notes that widening supply chain issues could extend Tesla’s lead over other firms in the EV space.

Out of all the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 80 reported ownership of stakes in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) at the close of the first quarter with a combined value of $11.28 billion. This is down from 91 hedge funds a quarter ago. Its largest Q1 shareholder was Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management, a long-time investor, with a $1.71 billion stake.

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC, an investment management firm, mentioned Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its Q1 2022 investor letter. Here’s what the fund said:

“To put the demand growth for clean energy materials into perspective, let’s look at Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). At its Battery Day last year, Tesla projected three terawatt hours of lithium-ion battery capacity needed in 2030 for the EVs and storage they expect to produce. To reach this target, Tesla alone would gobble up approximately 75% of the world’s current nickel production and four times the world’s current lithium production. These numbers are astounding enough, but when one considers that EVs currently represent just 15% of global nickel demand and about 45% of lithium demand and that Tesla will likely be producing only a small proportion of the world’s EVs in 2030, the implications are staggering. Clean energy materials companies will make a lot more money in the decades to come than they ever have both because they will be selling a lot more metric tons of material and because there are certain to be shortages where supply can’t keep up with the rapidly growing demand.”