In this piece, we’ll take a look at the 5 best self driving car stocks to buy now. For more stocks and our analysis of the autonomous car industry, head on to 15 Best Self Driving Car Stocks To Buy Now.
5. QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 80
QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) is a global leader in commercializing and developing foundational wireless technologies. The company develops semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. The company’s technology and solutions are used in industries or applications such as automotive and the Internet of Things. The Snapdragon Ride Vision system from QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) is a new open, modular computer vision and scalable software stack built on a four-nanometer process technology for advanced driver assistance systems and automated driving.
On November 03, 2022, John Vinh, an analyst at KeyBanc, reduced his price target on QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) to $150 while keeping an Overweight rating. The analyst stated that although the company posted good results for Q4, the forward guidance for Q1 is weak and may cause a downside in the stock price.
In its Q4 2021 investor letter, ClearBridge Investments, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:
Market strength continued in the fourth quarter, with only the communication services sector down in the Russell 1000 Value Index. Portfolio returns benefited from the strong performance of semiconductor maker QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM), which has executed exceptionally well in pursuing the transition to 5G, growing both content and share due to its leadership position in cellular technology. The chipmaker recently outlined a number of peripheral growth opportunities outside of mobile markets, including automotive (where it hopes to leverage its strong presence in the automotive infotainment space into advanced driver assistance systems), Internet of Things (including opportunities in the PC market, VR/AR market, and factory automation) and radio frequency (where mmWave adoption globally, including China, would drive substantial upside).
4. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 88
Headquartered in Texas, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is an American global automotive and clean energy corporation. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) creates, develops, manufactures, sells, and leases high-performance all-electric vehicles, as well as energy-generating and storage systems.
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) recently reported Q3 2022 results, reporting a topline of $21.45 billion, missing the market estimate by $428.2 million. The company’s Normalized EPS of $1.05 beat the market consensus by $0.05.
Alger Capital made the following comment about Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is an electric vehicle manufacturer with a significant technological lead in its large and rapidly growing addressable market. Shares outperformed during the quarter despite covid 19 shutdowns at the company’s shanghai production plant early in the period. During this quarter, the company also ramped up production at its newer Germany and Texas plants. While investors were aware of these challenging variables, the company’s quarterly results exceeded expectations thanks to lower-than-expected operating expenses. Investors are aware that ramping up electric vehicle production is challenging and recognize it’s difficult to estimate production rates.
3. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 89
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is a software and fabless corporation that develops graphic processing units, application programming interfaces for data science and high-performance computing, and system-on-a-chip units for the automotive and mobile computing markets. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)’s drive automotive solutions are a collection of hardware and software components for autonomous car designers and manufacturers.
On November 17, 2022, Rajvindra Gill, an analyst at Needham, increased his price target on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) to $200 while keeping a Buy rating on the stock. The company reported strong Q3 results despite slowing data center sales in China, which reflects the strong execution of the management, noted the analyst in a research note.
2. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 140
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a multinational technology company that designs, manufactures, and distributes smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, accessories, and related services. Titan is the electric automobile project currently being researched and developed by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). The company is developing self-driving hardware, software, and services as a prospective product.
On November 08, 2022, David Vogt, an analyst at UBS, reduced his price target on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to $180 while keeping a Buy rating on the stock. The analyst stated that the production delays due to lockdowns in China, causing wait times to increase in the majority of markets.
Here is what Wedgewood Partners specifically said about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) grew revenues +5% (foreign exchange adjusted and excluding Russia) driven by record iPhone revenues that were up about +3% on an exceptional year ago comparison of +50%. Apple’s installed base is over 1.8 billion devices which helps drive a software and services business that has generated almost $80 billion of revenue over the past 4 quarters. As we have highlighted in the past, Apple’s relentless focus on the development and integration between hardware (especially ICs) as well as software, continues to add significant value for customers of its products and services. We expect this favorable competitive dynamic to continue for the foreseeable future.
1. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 196
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is an American multinational technology firm. It operates in three segments: Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. Waymo LLC, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., is a California-based autonomous driving technology business. Its Waymo Driver technology powers both Waymo One, an autonomous ride-hailing service, and Waymo Via, a trucking and local delivery service. Waymo LLC also creates driving technologies for other vehicles, including delivery vans and Class 8 tractor-trailers used in logistics.
On November 23, 2022, Andrew Boone, an analyst at JMP Securities, reduced his price target on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to $132 while keeping an Outperform rating on the shares. In a research note, the analyst highlighted the worsening macro indicators, including reducing corporate spending and currency fluctuations.
Here is what Mayar Capital has to say about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:
In early January this year – which admittedly feels like eons ago – US President Joe Biden was pushing Americans to take up the government’s offer of free COVID tests to help tackle the surging omicron variant. How did Biden respond when citizens asked about the availability of these tests?
“Google it!”
This advice, undoubtedly well-meant, was roundly scoffed at by the press, however. It seemed too obvious to be very helpful.
Anyway, the anecdote serves to introduce you to one of our largest holdings, Alphabet; the parent company of Google. Note that first, Alphabet’s original and core product – its search engine – has entered our common vocabulary as a verb. ‘Googling’ something has the same meaning as ‘researching’ or ‘finding an answer to’ something. Second, the reason Biden’s advice was met with such opprobrium was because Googling something has become almost second nature to us now.
These two observations reveal a lot about Google’s strength in the search engine market, in which it has a share of over 90 percent. Because internet search is almost the prototypical network, Google has benefitted from – and we think is also protected by – the huge competitive advantage its scale brings – both to those asking the questions and those providing the answers. The Google search platform becomes increasingly useful to anyone seeking information as a greater volume of stuff becomes available. This starts a virtuous cycle that results in a colossal market share for Google itself. In the language of business strategists, Google benefits from vast network effects.
Because Google’s search results are viewed by billions of eyeballs every day, its search page ‘real estate’ is understandably very valuable to those with goods and services to sell. Advertising revenues from this ‘real estate’ as well as that from its other properties such as Mail, Maps, and so on, totaled almost USD 150b in 2021; amounting to almost 58% of the company’s revenues. Ad sales on YouTube, also owned by Alphabet, brought in another USD 28b. With the secular shift of the advertising spend to digital channels – over which Alphabet has a tight grip – we estimate the company has a share of around 40% of the digital advertising market and is probably the most valuable advertising property in the world… (Click here to see the full text)
You can also take a look at 20 Most Profitable Franchises To Own and 15 Most Valuable Canadian Companies.
