We recently published a list of 12 Best German Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds. In this article, we are going to take a look at where BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) stands against other best German stocks to buy according to hedge funds.

Germany’s economy is facing continued weakness. According to a report published by Roland Berger, the 0.1% contraction in 2023 and the 0.2% in 2o24 will only be countered by a 0.4% projected growth in 2025. While manufacturing orders are recovering modestly since June last year, business sentiments are still low and the industrial production for November was down 3,1% year-over-year. Unemployment also reached 2.81 million in December 2024, which was a 170,000 increase as compared to the same period last year. This pushed the unemployment rate to 6%. Inflation is now expected to average 2% in 2025, which is still down from the 2.2% figure from 2024.

Earlier on March 6, Chris Verrone, Strategas, joined CNBC’s ‘Fast Money’ to express his bullish outlook on the European market. He highlighted a shift in global cyclicality eastward and observed that the European industrials are achieving new highs. Verrone emphasized that the European banks have shown strength over the past 18 months but despite such trends, investors are still not heavily leaning towards European equities. He cited the German ETF under the name of EWG to support his stance, as EWG broke a 20-year high which indicated its departure from prolonged secular stagnation particularly within banks and industrials. However, he did note that energy and basic resources are not showing the same momentum.

The conversation also covered the fact that investors have been overweight in US large-cap tech stocks over the past 12 to 13 years. Verrone relayed that observed extreme bearishness towards the European market as of December 2024, when he visited the region. He particularly noted that peripheral European markets, which include countries like Italy and Spain, have been leading. Whereas Germany has lagged. While Verrone mentioned that he heard Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, expressed pessimism about the European economy herself during the world economic forum in Davos, he still maintains his bullish outlook. He thinks that the European economic data is improving and global cyclicality has not been extinguished.

Our Methodology

We used the Finviz stock screener to compile an initial list of top German stocks. We then selected 12 German stocks that were the most popular among elite hedge funds and that analysts were bullish on. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q4 2024. The hedge fund data was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database which tracks the moves of over 900 elite money managers.

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).

BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 35

BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) is a biotechnology company that develops and commercializes mRNA-based immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases. Its pipeline features vaccine and cancer therapeutic candidates that use mRNA technology to stimulate the immune system. It has numerous ongoing clinical trials and strategic collaborations to accelerate its development.

The company is prioritizing its Oncology segment, particularly focusing on two pan-tumor programs: mRNA cancer immunotherapies (FixVac and iNeST) and the bispecific anti-PD-L1/anti-VEGF antibody BNT327. The company believes these programs have the potential to improve patient outcomes across various tumor types and establish new standards of care. In 2024, the company made progress, which included initiating a Phase 3 trial for BNT327 in small-cell lung cancer and advancing multiple datasets for these programs.

The company expects to generate and share new clinical data from these priority programs in 2025. The acquisition of Biotheus is expected to accelerate and expand the global development of BNT327, while also strengthening the company’s clinical development and manufacturing capabilities in China. BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) is investing in late-stage clinical trials, particularly in the adjuvant setting for its mRNA immunotherapies. It’s diversifying from its COVID-19 vaccine revenue stream to establish itself as a multi-product commercial oncology company.

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

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

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