In this article, we discuss 5 stocks to buy now according to Hari Hariharan’s NWI Management. If you want to read our detailed analysis of Hariharan’s history and hedge fund performance, go directly to 10 Stocks to Buy Now According to Hari Hariharan’s NWI Management.
5. Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA)
NWI Management Stake Value: $35,748,000
Percentage of NWI Management’s 13F Portfolio: 2.34%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 41
Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) manufactures bauxite, alumina, and aluminium in various cast and rolled forms. As part of a more significant analysis on Metals & Mining, Goldman Sachs analyst Emily Chieng boosted her price target on Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) to $88 from $78 and maintained a Conviction Buy rating on the stock on February 15.
NWI Management started building its position in Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) in the fourth quarter of 2020. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the hedge fund held 600,000 shares of the company, valued at $35.75 million. Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) represents 2.34% of the hedge fund’s 13F portfolio.
41 out of the 924 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) in the fourth quarter of 2021, worth $1.48 billion, compared to 44 in the preceding quarter, holding stakes in Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) valued at $1.74 billion.
4. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)
NWI Management Stake Value: $37,726,000
Percentage of NWI Management’s 13F Portfolio: 2.47%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 83
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is a computer memory and data storage company in the United States. Its products include dynamic random-access memory, multi chip packages, NAND Flash memory, NOR Flash memory, solid-state drives, and hybrid memory cubes. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) accounts for about 2.47% of NWI Management’s Q4 portfolio, as the hedge fund owns a $37.73 million stake in the company.
Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson raised Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) from Neutral to Outperform on February 2, increasing his price target to $120 from $100, reflecting lower long-term uncertainty and near-term NAND projections.
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) saw an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. The number of long hedge fund positions rose to 83 at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 63 positions in the previous quarter.
Hazelton Capital Partners, an investment management firm, in its third-quarter 2021 investor letter, mentioned Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU). Here is what Hazelton Capital Partners said about Micron Technology, Inc.:
“It’s hard to explain how shares of Micron Technology, manufacture of DRAM and NAND semiconductor chips, can fall during a global chip shortage. In most industries, focusing on demand can give you a clear insight into what lays ahead for a company. Today, the memory and storage chip industry is no different. However, in the past, companies focused on market share led to the reckless build out of chip fabrication plants (FABs), oversupply, falling average selling prices (ASPs) of memory and storage chips, lower margins, and declining cash flows. As the industry consolidated – there are now just 3 major producers of DRAM and 5 on the NAND side – rational behavior among the key players began to take hold as competitors began focusing more on R&D. Currently, chip pricing remains cyclical although less so than in the past and that cyclicality has a long-term upward bias. The ongoing transition to newer and more robust platforms (3D 176-layer NAND & 1-Alpha node DRAM) has provided the memory and storage chip industry with improved supply capacity under its current manufacturing footprint, ultimately pressuring ASPs. Over the past three years, as most of the large platform conversions have already taken place, being able to add more bits per wafer has reached a saturation point. With no major FAB build outs planned in the near-term by competitors Samsung or SK Hynix, constrained supply and flattening cost curves should lead to durable and upward sloping ASPs once the recent volatility from the chip shortage subsides.
Currently Micron Technology trades at just 8x 2022 estimate earnings. MU is expecting growth in both DRAM and NAND not just from the supply of more chips to data centers, artificial intelligence, the auto sector, and mobile devices, but also from greater demand for gigabyte capacity per unit within those segments. With a healthy balance sheet, improving return on invested capital, and expanding cash flows, not only should Micron benefit from improving future earnings but its multiple should also reflect the transition to a flattening cost curve.”
3. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)
NWI Management Stake Value: $58,861,000
Percentage of NWI Management’s 13F Portfolio: 3.86%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 224
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), formerly known as Facebook, Inc., is an American global technology corporation located in Menlo Park, California. As of the end of the fourth quarter, 224 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database of 924 funds held stakes in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), down from 248 funds in the prior quarter.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) was downgraded to Hold from Buy by Argus analyst Joseph Bonner on February 4. According to the analyst, the company’s Q4 numbers were somewhat disappointing, but his rating adjustment was due to the company’s 2022 guidance. On February 2, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) posted a Q4 EPS of $3.67, missing the consensus by $0.16.
In Q4 2021, NWI Management held a stake worth over $58.86 million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), after increasing its position by 40%. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) accounted for 3.86% of NWI Management’s portfolio.
Jefferies Group mentioned Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) in its third-quarter 2021 investor letter. Here is what the firm said:
“While still early, FB is in the process of building the platforms that will ultimately support the development the Metaverse. We look at FB’s position through the lens of 4 current investment initiatives: 1) Oculus VR hardware, 2) Smart glasses, 3) Augmented Reality lenses, and 4) “Horizon Workrooms”
Oculus Virtual Reality hardware: Since acquiring Oculus in 2014 ($2B deal), FB has been focused on developing best-in-class hardware and complementary software & services to support VR experiences. The Oculus Quest 2 is FB’s newest VR headset; it retails at $299 and allows users to play games, try fitness classes, play sports, and watch concerts in virtual environments. Most importantly, Quest 2 is linked to users’ Facebook accounts, which means users can seamlessly connect with friends in virtual environments to play games or spend time together. We believe one of FB’s biggest differentiators in VR is its large array of non-gaming experiences that were designed for Oculus. For instance, users can explore extreme terrain in National Geographic Explore VR, join virtual fitness classes, or simulate being a chef. As FB’s hardware continues to improve and becomes less cumbersome, we would expect a flywheel of greater developer and user adoption of VR…” (Click here to see the full text)
2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
NWI Management Stake Value: $77,354,000
Percentage of NWI Management’s 13F Portfolio: 5.08%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 262
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a multinational technology business headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss maintained an Overweight rating on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares with a $372 price target on February 8.
NWI Management owns 230,000 shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) worth over $77.35 million, representing close to 5.08% of its Q4 portfolio. The hedge fund reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 33% in the fourth quarter of 2021.
As per Insider Monkey’s Q4 data, 262 hedge funds reported owning stakes in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), up from 250 funds in the previous quarter. The total value of these stakes is nearly $75.6 billion.
Baron Funds in its third-quarter 2021 investor letter mentioned Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Here is what it said:
“Shares of Microsoft Corporation, a cloud-software leader and provider of software productivity tools and infrastructure, rose during the quarter following a strong earnings report highlighting solid demand for its broad product stack and continued momentum migrating its business to the cloud. Microsoft’s results continued to be strong across the board, with total revenue beating Street estimates by 4.5%, an acceleration in Commercial Cloud revenue to 31% constant-currency growth, a four-point improvement in Commercial Cloud gross margins (to 70% from 66%), and GAAP earnings up 42%. We believe the company is positioned to deliver 13% to 15% organic growth over the next three years, underpinned by TAM expansion across its disruptive cloud product portfolio, as more companies look to transform and digitize their businesses, as well as strong operating leverage as its cloud products gain scale.”
1. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
NWI Management Stake Value: $141,786,000
Percentage of NWI Management’s 13F Portfolio: 9.31%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 158
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is a high-tech corporation. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) took its most significant asset – the millions of daily Google search engine users – and applied it to various businesses, including the Android smartphone operating system. On February 2, Stifel analyst Scott Devitt boosted his price objective on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) to $3,500 from $3,200 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares after the company reported another strong quarter.
On February 1, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) published earnings for the fourth quarter, announcing an EPS of $30.69, beating estimates by $3.39. In addition, the $75.32 billion revenue for the period was up 32.4% year-over-year, exceeding estimates by $3.51 billion.
158 out of the 924 hedge funds held stakes in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter of 2021, worth $36.6 billion, up from 156 funds in the preceding quarter, holding stakes in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) worth $34.9 billion.
Weitz Investment Management, in its fourth-quarter 2021 investor letter mentioned Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). Here is what the fund said:
“A couple of other platform companies deserve a mention as well. Meta Platforms and Alphabet have both been under regulatory scrutiny that has affected their valuations. The threats of punitive action are real, but we have tried to be imaginative about how onerous any fines, rule changes or forced divestitures might be, and we believe that the fiveyear outlook for each is well above average under almost any scenario. So, we include these two in the list of the under-appreciated.”
You can also take a peek at 10 Biotech Stocks to Buy According to Matthew Strobeck’s Birchview Capital and Top 10 Stock Picks of Peter S. Park’s Park West Asset Management.
