In this article, we will look at 5 best augmented reality stocks to invest in. If you want to see our detailed discussion about augmented reality and its use cases, you can go to 11 Best Augmented Reality Stocks to Invest In.
5. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 110
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is pioneering the augmented reality space. Among its top AR products, we have the NVIDIA CloudXR which is the company’s cloud-based streaming solution for virtual, augmented, and extended realities. The company also offers NVIDIA Drive, a suite of products for developing autonomous driving solutions using computer vision and machine learning. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is among the best augmented reality stocks to invest in.
On March 23, JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur reiterated an Overweight rating on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and a $350 price target on the shares. The analyst sees NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) as well-positioned to benefit from advancements in artificial intelligence as the company maintains its stronghold in the industry with its next-generation hardware and software platforms. The analyst sees NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) being 1 to 2 steps ahead of its competitors in the industry.
At the close of Q4 2021, Insider Monkey identified 110 hedge funds long NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). The total stakes of these funds amounted to $10.49 billion, up from $10.05 billion in the previous quarter with 83 positions. The hedge fund sentiment for NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is positive.
Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is the top shareholder in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) as of December 31, 2021. Fisher Asset Management’s stakes in the company amounted to $1.5 billion, up 6% from its Q3 2021 stakes of $1 billion.
Vulcan Value Partners mentioned NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in its “Vulcan Value Partners Large Cap Fund” fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter. Here is what experts at Vulcan Value had to say:
“NVIDIA Corp. was a material contributor during the quarter. We have discussed NVIDIA at length in previous quarters. Its products are at the intersection of a number of important computing trends including the movement to the Cloud, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, edge computing, gaming, and now, the Metaverse. The company continues to outperform expectations, growing its revenue and free cash flow significantly throughout 2021, and in turn, its value is compounding quickly.”
4. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 134
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has the world’s largest augmented reality platform. The company offers a suite of AR devices and a multitude of AR apps on its App Store which can be downloaded using an iPhone or an iPad. The company offers ARKit, a platform that helps developers create AR experiences, and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is currently working on a pair of smart AR glasses that will bring information from your phone right in front of your eyes, quite literally.
Last May, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) invested $410 million in the leading Pennsylvania-based optical technology company II-VI to further the development of Apple’s FaceID, Memoji, and Portrait Mode. Moreover, II-VI also manufactures lasers that are found on the LIDAR scanners on Apple devices which power the company’s AR experiences.
On January 27, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported earnings for the fiscal first quarter of 2022. The company recorded earnings per share of $2.10, beating estimates by $0.21, and generated quarterly revenues of more than $123.95 billion, outperforming market consensus by $5.41 billion.
This February, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth raised his price target on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to $210 from $198 and reiterated a Strong Buy rating on the shares following the company’s “record” first-quarter results.
At the end of Q4 2021, 134 hedge funds were long Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) having stakes of more than $186 billion in the company. This is compared to 120 positions in the preceding quarter with stakes of $146 billion. The hedge fund sentiment for the stock is positive.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is the top shareholder in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as of December 31, 2021. The fund’s stakes in the company stand at $157.52 billion, which accounts for 47.59% of Berkshire Hathaway’s Q4 2021 investment portfolio.
ClearBridge Investments shared its thoughts about investing in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter. Here is what the firm said:
“Despite these mixed emerging growth results, the ClearBridge Global Growth Strategy outperformed the benchmark due to resilience among our secular and structural growth holdings. The bulk of these contributions came from U.S. mega-cap growth stocks Apple and Microsoft which continued to uniquely act both offensively and defensively as they have through most of the pandemic.”
3. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 209
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is among the 5 best augmented reality stocks to invest in. The company’s AR products include ARCore, a platform for developing augmented reality experiences, and Google Lens which is an image recognition tool. The company has also added AR functionalities to its already existing products such as Google Maps and Google Translate.
This February, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) announced earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2021. The company registered an EPS of $30.69 and beat estimates by $3.41. Moreover, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) reported quarterly revenues of $75.33 billion, up 32.39% year over year, and outperformed market consensus by $3.50 billion.
This March, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth raised his price target on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to $3,670 from $3,540 and maintained a Strong Buy rating. The analyst sees upside to the stock as the company continues to build on its strength in areas including Search, mobile, Cloud, data center, e-commerce, entertainment, home automation, autonomous vehicles, and health and fitness.
Insider Monkey found 209 hedge funds that held long positions in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. The total stakes of these funds in the company came to $32.3 billion, up from $28.5 billion in the previous quarter with 195 positions. TCI Fund Management is the dominating shareholder in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), having stakes of more than $8.5 billion in the company as of the fourth quarter of 2021.
Here is what Vulcan Value Partners had to say about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in its fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter:
“In contrast, we made a different kind of mistake about a decade ago. Google, now Alphabet, performed very well for us while we owned it. The company kept outperforming our assumptions and we kept lowering them to be conservative. “Trees do not grow to the sky.” The stock kept going up and our value grew but did not keep pace with the stock. It hit our estimate of fair value and we sold it with a nice gain, patting ourselves on the back. We kept following the company and what they actually did over the next several years was roughly double the assumptions we used to value it. Therefore, our value was too conservative, and we sold it too cheaply, missing many years of compounding. Fortunately, we experienced some volatility several years ago that allowed us to purchase Alphabet (Google) again with a margin of safety.”
2. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 224
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is one of the most active companies working on building AR and VR experiences to support its goals of making the metaverse a reality. The company is pouring billions of dollars into AR and VR companies to develop its stronghold in the space and revealed that it has already invested $10 billion in building the metaverse. The company is working on two pairs of AR smart glasses that would operate without smartphones and plans on releasing them by 2024.
On April 5, 2022, UBS analyst Lloyd Walmsley raised his price target on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) to $300 from $280 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares.
By the end of Q4 2021, Insider Monkey had spotted Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) on 224 investment portfolios. The total stakes of those 224 hedge funds were valued at $31.8 billion. Fisher Asset Management is the most prominent shareholder in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) as of December 31, 2021. The fund upped its Q3 2021 stakes by 27%, bringing its Q4 2021 stakes to $3.22 billion.
Boyar Value Group published its fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter in which the firm shared its thoughts on investing in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB). Here is what Boyar Value said:
“Corporate executives can have many different reasons for selling shares (anticipation of tax law changes, philanthropy, diversification, and much more), but the sheer number of billionaire founders who sold shares in 2021 should raise eyebrows and might well be signaling a market top. Bloomberg’s Ben Steverman and Scott Carpenter report not only that Mark Zuckerberg of Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly known as Facebook) sold shares in his company almost every day last year but also that the founders of Google sold ~$3.5 billion worth of stock (the first time either Sergey Brin or Larry Page has sold shares since 2017).”
1. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 262
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) began its AR journey in 2016 with the release of the HoloLens, a mixed reality headset that was designed to enable businesses to run simulations on real-world operations and solve problems using augmented reality. In 2019, the company released the second generation of its HoloLens, the HoloLens 2, which is up for commercial use. The HoloLens is being widely used in industries across manufacturing, healthcare, engineering, education, and construction among others. Companies like Airbus SE (EPA:AIR), LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB), BHP Group Ltd (NYSE:BHP), and Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) are a few to name that are using the HoloLens to optimize business operations.
On February 4, 2022, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth raised his price target on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to $411 from $366 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares f0llowing the company’s “strong quarter”.
Insider Monkey identified 262 hedge funds long Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) at the close of the fourth quarter of 2021. The total stakes of these funds amounted to $75.66 billion, up from $65.87 billion in the prior quarter with 250 hedge funds. The investor sentiment for the stock is positive.
As of December 31, 2021, Fisher Asset Management owns the most shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) making the hedge fund the largest stakeholder in the company. According to our data, ken fisher’s hedge fund owns more than 26.8 million shares of stock, which amount to a stake value of over $9.02 billion.
Motiwala Capital mentioned Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter, here is what the firm had to say:
“Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) re-enters our portfolio after a long gap. MSFT sells enterprise and consumer software products as well as hardware products such as the Xbox video game console and Surface laptops. All business segments experienced double-digit revenue growth and earnings per share have compounded in the mid-double digits over the last 5 years. We believe MSFT continues this momentum in the years ahead.”
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