We recently published a list of 10 Best Cash App Stocks To Buy According to Hedge Funds. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stands against other best cash app stocks to buy according to hedge funds.

The mobile payment service Cash App has grown significantly throughout the years, and in 2022 it was valued at $138 billion, up from $40 billion in 2020. Although its earnings increased to $2.95 billion, showing consistent yearly growth since 2018, its revenue decreased to $10.6 billion in 2022 from $12.3 billion in 2021, despite this remarkable valuation. Cash App’s user base grew by 7 million from 2021 to 51 million in 2022, due to its user-friendly interface and array of financial services, which include peer-to-peer payments, Bitcoin investments, and cash card features. The four U.S. states of Texas, California, Florida, and New York together account for 48.75% of Cash App’s user base, with over half of its customers concentrated in these states. As of 2020, there were just 10,000 active Android users in the United Kingdom, and its market share was less than 0.05%. In 2022, the platform handled more than 528 million transactions, demonstrating its increasing use. Cash App is positioned as a major participant in the digital payment ecosystem, particularly in the U.S. market, due to its excellent features and rising profitability.

As per findings by Apptopia, Cash App was the most downloaded payment app between April and May 2020, with a 20.1% increase in U.S. downloads, reaching around 4 million within that time frame. Additionally, usage increased, with roughly 250 million sessions in April—the second-highest number among payment applications. As people looked for alternatives to in-person banking and provided financial support to friends and family, the pandemic caused a shift toward digital transactions, which is what is responsible for this surge.

According to Block, Cash App’s parent company, in a manner that many financial institutions have not been able to, Cash App has expanded access to the financial system and enabled a wide range of consumers to send, spend, save, invest, and comprehend their money more effectively. Its goal is to “redefine the world’s relationship with money by making it more relatable, instantly available, and universally accessible,” which is in line with this. Block believes Cash App can keep improving the economy both today and in the future.

However, Cash App has also faced challenges. Recently, under Jack Dorsey’s leadership, Block agreed to a $175 million settlement with the CFPB, which included a $55 million fine and up to $120 million in reimbursements for Cash App users. Allegations of widespread fraud and insufficient customer service on the platform were addressed in the settlement. The CFPB charged Cash App with facilitating fraud, sending users to banks, and neglecting to look into questionable transactions. Cash App accounted for over half of Block’s 2023 gross profit, with over 56 million accounts. In addition, after 48 state regulators joined together, Block paid an $80 million fine for money laundering violations.

The press release stated:

“While we strongly disagree with the CFPB’s mischaracterizations, we made the decision to settle this matter in the interest of putting it behind us and focusing on what’s best for our customers and our business,”

Methodology

For this article, we reviewed multiple reliable websites and videos that discuss stocks available on Cash App. From there, we formed an initial list of the 20 Best Cash App Stocks To Buy According to Hedge Funds. From the resultant dataset, we chose 10 stocks with the highest number of hedge fund investors, using Insider Monkey’s database of 900 hedge funds in Q3 2024 to gauge hedge fund sentiment for stocks.

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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here)

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 202

The Best Cash App Stock, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has transformed itself into a true technology giant, producing tens of billions of dollars in free cash flow every year with solutions spanning from advertising to cloud computing and self-driving automobiles. Even though Alphabet’s primary search business has been the subject of antitrust concerns, the company’s overall strength is that it continues to lead in several areas, including search, artificial intelligence, video, and cloud computing. To enable users to make payments, it provides the Google Wallet app for Android.

In Q3 of 2024, a 35% increase in Google Cloud revenue is the primary driver of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s record revenue growth, with consolidated revenue up 15% year over year. Significant advancements have been made in AI and cloud computing; for example, Google Cloud generated $1.9 billion in operating income with a 17% operating margin, while Gemini models had an over 14x increase in API calls over a six-month period. Over the last four quarters, YouTube has surpassed $50 billion in total ad and subscription revenue, with ad revenues rising 12% year over year. In just 18 months, Alphabet has lowered machine costs per query by more than 90% due to its developments in AI infrastructure, which include data center investments and specialized GPUs. The company’s autonomous car business, Waymo, has strengthened its position as the industry leader by reaching one million miles driven entirely on its own each week and growing its collaboration with Uber. These accomplishments demonstrate Alphabet’s ongoing expansion and innovation in its major businesses.

Google and the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) have recently teamed up to establish Google Pay in Saudi Arabia through the “mada,” the country’s payment system. The service is expected to go live in 2025.

Analyst Brian Pitz of BMO Capital increased his price objective for Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) from $217 to $230 and maintained his Outperform rating for the company’s stock. As a result of positive channel inspections, the company is also seeing an increase in Search, GCP, and YouTube income. In a research note, BMO informs investors that although Gemini unlocks TAM potential due to its capacity to handle complicated inquiries, PMax is boosting ROAS for Search. Gemini/Vertex AI’s middle-layer advancements are helping GCP. It adds that YouTube’s lower-funnel QR codes are popular with advertisers.

Oakmark Equity and Income Fund stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was the top contributor during the quarter. Despite ongoing litigation with the Department of Justice in its antitrust case, the U.S.-headquartered interactive media and services company’s stock price rose after posting solid third-quarter earnings. In the Search division, the company generated low-teens year-over-year revenue growth and management highlighted that they’re seeing strong user engagement with their new AI Overviews feature. The biggest upside surprise came from the Cloud division, where revenue growth accelerated to 35% and margins reached a record of 17%. This performance was driven by client demand for AI Infrastructure and Generative AI Solutions as well as core Google Cloud Platform (GCP) products. We continue to believe Alphabet is a collection of great businesses that can unlock further value over the long term through its world-class AI capabilities.”

Overall, GOOGL ranks 1st on our list of best cash app stocks to buy according to hedge funds. While we acknowledge the potential for GOOGL to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GOOGL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.