Harvard University’s endowment is overseen by Harvard Management Company Inc. (HMC), an investment firm wholly owned by the university. As of June 30, 2024, the endowment stood at $53.2 billion, with an average annual return of 9.3% over the past seven years, based on available performance data.
While the University is consistently ranked among the world’s best, a clash over academic freedom and administrative authority has dominated discussions in recent weeks and months. Some of the recent decisions (funding, limits on international students) by the Trump administration have raised questions about academic freedom, internal governance, and transparency. These issues are still unfolding and continue to draw attention both within the university and beyond.
Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square, criticized Harvard’s leadership during a mid-May CNBC interview, arguing that the university missed an opportunity to engage meaningfully on concerns raised by public figures, including former President Trump. Ackman believes Harvard should have responded more thoughtfully to criticism surrounding free speech, internal inefficiencies, and political imbalance, issues that, in his view, continue to erode confidence in the administration.
He also raised questions about Harvard’s financial health. Although the endowment is estimated at $53 billion, Ackman pointed out that much of it is tied up in illiquid assets such as real estate and private equity. Reports of the university seeking buyers for a $1 billion stake in its private investments, potentially at a discount, have raised eyebrows. On top of that, he cited Harvard’s $8 billion in outstanding debt, suggesting that the university could face funding pressures if donations or public support decline.
In a separate Bloomberg interview on June 17, Citadel founder Ken Griffin shared his hopes for American universities to re-focus on their original purpose: educating future leaders and helping students contribute meaningfully to society.
With those insights, let’s explore the Harvard University stock portfolio: Top 10 stock picks.
Our Methodology
For this analysis, we reviewed the stock portfolio of Harvard Management Company as reported in its 13F filing for the first quarter of 2025. The rankings are based on the value of the firm’s holdings in each stock as of the quarter’s end. To provide additional insight into institutional investor interest, we also included hedge fund holdings data using Insider Monkey’s Q1 2025 hedge fund holdings database.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Note: All pricing data is as of market close on June 20.
Harvard University Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks
10. Rubrik Inc. (NYSE:RBRK)
Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $8.1 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45
Rubrik Inc. (NYSE:RBRK) is one of the top 10 stock picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. It was among the three new stock positions initiated in the portfolio in Q1 2025, though the position is relatively small (0.7% of portfolio value) versus other stocks.
That said, the stock is a strong performer with YTD gains of approximately 31% and around 190% over the last one year.
On June 11, Shrenik Kothari of Robert W. Baird reiterated his Buy rating on the stock, maintaining a price target of $110. He pointed to continued strength in the company’s financial indicators, particularly a steady rise in remaining performance obligations (RPO), both year-over-year and sequentially, a signal of sustained customer demand.
The company also appears to be converting a significant portion of deferred revenue into current income, reflecting solid revenue recognition practices and billing efficiency. The U.S. remains Rubrik’s largest and fastest-growing market, playing a pivotal role in driving growth.
While its revenue from channel partners has become slightly more diversified, those partnerships remain central to the company’s go-to-market approach. The analyst added that rising subscription revenue across Rubrik’s offerings reflects healthy customer uptake and growing interest.
Altogether, these trends suggest the company’s momentum is holding steady. As a result, Kothari remains upbeat, citing reliable performance indicators as the basis for his optimistic view.
Rubrik Inc. (NYSE:RBRK) is a cloud data management and cybersecurity firm that offers the Rubrik Security Cloud, a unified SaaS platform combining backup, threat detection, ransomware recovery, and sensitive data monitoring across on-premises, cloud, and SaaS environments.
9. Purecycle Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PCT)
Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $17.3 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 21
Purecycle Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PCT) is one of the top 10 stock picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. The Harvard Management Co. has maintained its position in the stock (around 2.5 million shares or 1.5% portfolio’s weight) versus the last quarter.
On June 17, 2025, PureCycle Technologies (Nasdaq: PCT) announced a $300 million capital raise through binding agreements with both new and existing investors, including Duquesne Family Office, Samlyn Capital and Sylebra Capital. This funding will support the company’s long-term growth strategy, scaling its polypropylene recycling capacity to one billion pounds by 2030, with a projected EBITDA target of $600 million.
The capital raise coincides with PureCycle’s expansion into Southeast Asia through a strategic partnership with IRPC Public Company Limited. Together, they plan to build a 130-million-pound recycling facility at IRPC’s industrial zone in Rayong, Thailand. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2025, with operations expected by mid-2027. The partnership enables PureCycle to leverage existing infrastructure and reduce construction costs.
Parallel expansion efforts are underway in both Europe and the United States. The company plans to replicate its recent successes by enhancing its facilities in Antwerp, Belgium, and by developing a large-scale Gen 2 plant in Augusta, Georgia, with a capacity of over 300 million pounds. Engineering work for the Augusta site is ongoing, with permitting and construction milestones scheduled for 2026, and an operational ramp-up is expected by 2029.
(At the time of writing this article, this funding transaction was expected to close by June 20).
With these aggressive expansion projects, their scale, and geographic diversity, the company appears confident in the commercial traction and operational learnings from its Ironton facility.
PureCycle Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PCT) is a recycling company. The Company focuses on commercializing a dissolution recycling technology that physically separates polymer from other plastics, color, and contaminants, thereby restoring waste polypropylene into resin with similar properties and applicability for reuse as virgin polypropylene.
8. Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)
Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $53.9 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 158
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is one of the top 10 picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. As of the end of Q1 2025, Harvard Management Co.’s portfolio indicates that the position in the stock has reduced by approximately 14% quarter-over-quarter.
On June 6, Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis reiterated a Buy rating on Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), with an unchanged price target of $300. His view is based on Broadcom’s steady progress in areas like AI and networking, where growth trends remain strong.
According to Curtis, Broadcom’s AI business is expected to remain a key growth engine, supported by the scaling of its Ironwood TPU and broader ASIC portfolio. The firm sees a meaningful step-up in AI-related revenue over FY25 and FY26.
In networking, Ethernet adoption continues to grow across scale-out and scale-up use cases, further strengthening Broadcom’s position in the segment. This, combined with steady execution in the VMware integration, adds to the company’s long-term visibility. Jefferies highlights strong traction in VMware’s cloud platform (VCS), with a notable shift in customer adoption and a solid pace of double-digit ARR growth.
Although parts of the non-AI portfolio face some pressure, Broadcom’s overall fundamentals remain solid. The company continues to deliver strong gross and operating margins, underpinned by disciplined cost control and a diversified business mix.
Jefferies’ outlook suggests that Broadcom is well-positioned to benefit from secular trends in data infrastructure, and the current valuation continues to reflect attractive risk-reward in the analyst’s view.
7. Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $55.0 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 212
Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the top 10 picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. As of the end of Q1 2025, Harvard Management Co.’s portfolio indicates that the position in the stock has reduced by approximately 36% quarter-over-quarter to 507,831 shares (around 5% portfolio’s weight).
On June 16, Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer reiterated his Outperform rating on Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), maintaining a price target of $175. His outlook reflects continued optimism around Nvidia’s central role in the AI infrastructure buildout, supported by recent insights from company leadership during Oppenheimer’s 23rd Annual Semiconductor Bus Tour and discussions with Nvidia’s CFO Colette Kress and IR Director Stewart Stecker.
Management is actively engaging with global policymakers to support sovereign AI infrastructure, a market Nvidia estimates could exceed $1.5 trillion in total addressable opportunity. Europe alone could account for $120 billion of that market, with demand generally scaling in line with GDP. According to Schafer, these discussions reinforce Nvidia’s first-mover advantage in the AI ecosystem.
Looking ahead, Nvidia expects large-scale AI data centers, or “AI factories”, to emerge within the next two to three years. A single gigawatt-scale facility could represent a $40–$50 billion market for Nvidia, with early deployments anticipated by 2027 and broader multi-gigawatt buildouts by 2028.
Nvidia’s AI revenue currently skews 60/40 between training and inference, but management expects inference to gain ground. The company’s full-stack approach — combining GPUs, networking, and software — remains well suited to both workloads, positioning it competitively as AI use cases diversify.
Schafer also highlighted NVLink Fusion, Nvidia’s new interconnect technology, which allows customers to mix CPU architectures (e.g., x86 alongside ARM-based Grace CPUs) without performance trade-offs, potentially broadening Nvidia’s addressable market.
While U.S. restrictions on AI chip exports have impacted sales to China, prompting a $4.5 billion write-down, management views the exposure as manageable, with China now contributing less than 5% of total revenue.
In summary, Schafer continues to see Nvidia as a leader in the AI space, backed by product strength, global momentum, and a deep pipeline of long-term opportunities.
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) is a leading innovator in the design and production of graphics processing units (GPUs), system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, and AI-driven hardware and software. The company’s GPUs are used in gaming, high-performance computing, AI training, and inference and serve as the backbone of data center infrastructure worldwide.
6. Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER)
Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $64.5 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 145
Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) is one of the top 10 picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. Uber was among the three new stock positions initiated in the portfolio in Q1 2025, with it corresponding to approximately 5.7% of the portfolio’s weight.
In a note published on June 18, Bank of America analyst Justin Post reiterated a Buy rating on Uber Technologies (NASDAQ: UBER), maintaining his $97 price target. The rating reflects confidence in Uber’s strategic positioning as the autonomous vehicle (AV) landscape continues to evolve.
Post points to Uber’s established ride-hailing platform and growing set of technology partnerships as key factors that could help the company capitalize on future AV integration. While autonomous driving remains in its early deployment stage, developments such as Waymo’s expanded operations in California and its application to test in New York mark growing momentum in the space.
For Uber, these developments may offer long-term upside. Its scale and demand aggregation capabilities could make it an attractive partner for AV firms seeking to commercialize their technology. Although increased AV deployment poses a competitive risk — especially to smaller players like Lyft — Uber’s diversified network and ongoing engagement with multiple partners help reduce exposure to this risk.
Post also notes the potential for future collaborations with companies like Zoox as another positive factor. Such partnerships could enable Uber to remain flexible in its approach and integrate various technologies as the AV market matures.
In summary, the analyst views Uber as well-positioned to benefit from the ongoing shift toward autonomous mobility, with its core platform, scale, and strategic alliances providing a solid foundation for long-term growth.
Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) is a technology platform that utilizes its vast network, cutting-edge technology, and operational expertise to facilitate transportation and logistics services. The company offers ride-hailing, food delivery, and freight transportation, with key segments including Uber Eats for food delivery, Uber Freight for logistics, and advancements in autonomous vehicles and aerial ridesharing.
5. Light & Wonder Inc. (NASDAQ:LNW)
Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $91.7 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 27
Light & Wonder Inc. (NASDAQ:LNW) is one of the top 10 picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. The stock’s position in Harvard Management Co.’s portfolio is down approximately 27% quarter-over-quarter, but still commands around 8% of portfolio’s weight.
On June 4, following meetings with Light & Wonder’s SVP of Investor Relations, Nick Zangari, at the Stifel Cross Sector Insight Conference, a Stifel Nicolaus analyst reaffirmed a Hold rating on the stock, with an unchanged price target of $95.
The analyst noted that management remains committed to achieving its 2028 Adjusted EBITDA goal of $2 billion, despite the overall addressable market for its core business appearing stable rather than expanding. Near-term trends in regional gross gaming revenue have been encouraging, supporting the company’s projections for North America.
Research and development remains a strategic focus, with early progress suggesting better returns. That, in turn, is helping the company stay aligned with its longer-term market share ambitions. The analyst also noted that industry consolidation could give Light & Wonder additional room to grow.
However, he flagged a few concerns as well. Firstly, the comparisons against last year’s performance are expected to be more challenging in the coming quarters, and broader macro conditions remain unpredictable. He also noted that demand for slot machine replacements could soften, which may weigh on results depending on how the cycle plays out. While management sounds confident about its roadmap, these factors justify the analyst’s reiteration of a neutral view on the stock for now.
Light & Wonder Inc. (NASDAQ:LNW) is a Las Vegas, Nevada-based, cross-platform global games company with a focus on content and digital markets. The Company creates content and products for land-based casino gaming, social, and digital organizations.
4. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $111.2 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 227
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is one of the top 10 picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. The stock’s position in the portfolio was marginally up in Q1, and it accounted for around 9.8% of the portfolio weight.
Following the Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) conference held in mid-June, Baird’s analyst Colin Sebastian published a note on June 20 highlighting a potentially underappreciated area of growth for Alphabet: robotics. While the company is best known for its core businesses in Search, YouTube, Android, Cloud, and hardware, Sebastian believes its efforts in robotics AI, particularly through DeepMind, could become a meaningful contributor over time.
Google introduced its new Gemini Robotics AI stack at the event, designed to support physical robots capable of language understanding, visual processing, and real-world decision-making. Unlike current industrial robots, which are built for specific tasks, the next wave, enabled by systems like Gemini, aims to handle a broader range of functions with greater adaptability. The analyst compared the upcoming opportunity to the ’ChatGPT moment’ for robots.
Sebastian pointed out that the Gemini platform incorporates what he refers to as “embodied reasoning”, allowing the same software stack to be deployed across multiple hardware form factors. Demonstrations included robots performing nuanced actions such as folding paper or finding objects, tasks that require a deeper level of contextual understanding than traditional automation.
He believes this technology could play a foundational role as physical AI adoption accelerates, potentially evolving into a core platform alongside Android and Google Cloud. While still early, the long-term market opportunity, estimated by some to be over $100 billion, positions Alphabet as a potential leader and a “key enabler” in a rapidly emerging space that may include competition from companies like OpenAI, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla.
Given this potential, Sebastian reiterated his Outperform rating on Alphabet shares and maintained a price target of $190.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is the parent company of Google and a pioneer in internet-related services and products, including online advertising technologies, search engines, cloud computing, software, and hardware. The company is also a leading investor in data centers and fiber networks, operating a vast global network of data centers that support its cloud services and other digital offerings.
3. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $157.7 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 284
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the top 10 picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. The Harvard Management Co.’s portfolio composition shows that the managers substantially increased their position in Microsoft in Q1. Around 366,700 shares were added in Q1 2025, which increased the position by approximately 8x, giving it a 14% weight.
According to a June 19 report from the Financial Times, Microsoft and OpenAI are in the middle of complex negotiations to rework the terms of their long-standing partnership. A key point in the discussions is OpenAI’s proposal to convert from a capped-profit model into a fully for-profit entity—a move that would require Microsoft’s consent and could shift the balance of control and economics in the relationship.
The discussions have become increasingly difficult, with Microsoft reportedly open to walking away if no agreement is reached. At issue is the size of Microsoft’s stake in a restructured OpenAI, given its more than $13 billion investment to date. If no new terms are agreed upon, Microsoft could continue operating under its current agreement, which guarantees access to OpenAI’s models and a 20% share of related revenues through 2030.
Other terms are also under review. Microsoft currently holds exclusive rights to distribute OpenAI’s products through Azure and also has rights to early access to the company’s infrastructure and models. With growing competition in the AI space, Microsoft is seeking to maintain these advantages, while OpenAI is under pressure to finalize its restructuring plan to meet investor conditions from its recent funding rounds.
Despite issuing a joint statement underscoring a positive working relationship, sources close to the matter suggest Microsoft is not in a hurry to revise a deal that already works in its favor. Meanwhile, OpenAI is working against a year-end deadline to secure approvals and retain investor commitments, including from SoftBank.
Microsoft recently made xAI’s Grok available to its Azure customers. This kind of moves not only broaden its AI portfolio, but also suggest that the company is positioning itself to rely less heavily on OpenAI if necessary. The outcome of these talks may have wider implications for how major tech players approach access to foundational AI models going forward.
Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) develops and markets software, hardware, and cloud services. Its flagship products include the Windows operating system, the Microsoft Office suite, and the Azure cloud platform. Additionally, Microsoft owns LinkedIn, GitHub, and Xbox, extending its influence across various industries.
2. Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)
Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $173.2 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 102
Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is one of the top 10 picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. The Harvard Management Company increased its position in Booking Holdings by approximately 90%, which accounted for 15% of the total weight.
On June 20, BTIG analyst Jake Fuller reiterated a Buy rating on Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG), raising the price target from $5,500 to $6,250.
His optimistic view is based on stronger-than-expected reservation volumes and an acceleration in growth in recent months. Fuller believes this momentum increases the likelihood that Booking will outperform its second-quarter guidance, particularly on room night growth and earnings per share. His revised projections now sit above current consensus estimates.
The analyst also points to Booking’s valuation as favorable, especially when compared to peers in the large-cap internet sector. He sees the company not only as a key player in the online travel space but increasingly as part of the broader category of internet-driven growth businesses. Fuller’s view suggests continued upside supported by strong fundamentals and consistent execution.
Separately, Booking Holdings announced the extension of Booking.com’s commercial partnership with Etraveli Group for another eight years. This partnership, which was originally launched in 2019 and is live in 57 countries, aims to further expand this platform globally.
Booking CEO Glenn Fogel emphasized that the partnership helps the company push forward in offering a more flexible and intuitive travel service. Etraveli CEO Mathias Hedlund echoed that sentiment, highlighting the shared commitment to improving the end-to-end travel experience.
Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) is one of the world’s leading providers of online travel and related services. It commands several successful consumer-facing brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, and OpenTable.
1. Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Harvard Management Company’s Stake: $287.2 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 273
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is one of the top 10 picks from Harvard University’s stock portfolio. While the position in Meta was reduced quarter-over-quarter by around 62%, it accounted for the most significant chunk, 26%, of the portfolio.
On June 17, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak reaffirmed his Buy rating and a $650 price target on Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), citing the long-term revenue potential of monetizing WhatsApp. He highlighted Meta’s decision to introduce ads in the WhatsApp Updates tab as an early step toward building a new income stream from one of its largest platforms.
The analyst estimates that ad placements within the Updates section could generate between $3 billion and $5 billion in annual revenue by 2027, with an upside case reaching as high as $6 billion. Although monetization per user may remain lower outside the U.S., where most of WhatsApp’s 1.5 billion users are located, the analyst believes Meta’s ad infrastructure and scale could still support meaningful revenue growth.
His analysis assumes that users currently spend 2 to 4 minutes daily on the Updates tab, and if this grows to 12% of their time on the app, monetization could approach levels seen on Facebook. Under that scenario, the potential revenue contribution would add roughly 3% to Meta’s top line based on the analyst’s current forecasts.
He also believes that growing this way will also align with Meta’s broader strategy to grow revenue without disrupting the core user experience. While Meta’s diversification efforts outside advertising have been mixed, its core ad business remains strong, generating about 98% of total revenue in Q1 2025.
In the analyst’s view, WhatsApp’s monetization should support multi-year free cash flow growth as well as extend the company’s leadership in digital advertising. He sees this as an incremental lever that could contribute to both revenue growth and long-term shareholder value.
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) focuses on providing social media platforms and virtual reality services. The company operates platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads, and also sells wearables like Oculus headsets, aiming to connect people and build communities through its services.
While we acknowledge the potential of META as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than META and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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