5 Best ESG Stocks To Buy Now

2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

% of Funds as of 11/28/2022: 5.82%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 269

Leading software maker Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is committed to sustainability with a goal to be carbon negative by 2030. The company also hopes to replenish more water than it uses and to be zero waste across its direct waste footprint by the same year. At the end of Q3, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was among the most popular stocks among elite institutions with 269 hedge funds in our database owning shares.

Baron Funds commented on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in a Q3 2022 investor letter,

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) pulled back with the overall software industry on the back of macroeconomic issues, including inflation concerns and rising interest rates. The company reported another strong quarter, highlighted by total revenues growing 16% on a constant currency basis and Microsoft Cloud revenues, now 48% of total sales, growing 33%, with Azure (Microsoft’s infrastructure cloud) growing 46%. These results were driven by strong demand for large commercial cloud contracts, as more businesses are standardizing on Microsoft’s platform and the company is signing larger and longer deals. Initial fiscal year 2023 guidance calls for healthy double-digit revenue and operating income growth. Both foreign exchange and personal computer headwinds were contemplated in the guidance and have continued to worsen, but we have conviction in the company’s strong competitive positioning, durable growth drivers, and margin expansion opportunity over the mid- to long term.