In this article, we will take a look at Kevin O’Leary’s stock portfolio and see 15 of his stock picks for 2025.
Television personality, financier, and entrepreneur, Kevin O’Leary, also known as ‘Mr. Wonderful’ is recognized mostly as one of the panelists on the reality shows Shark Tank and Dragon’s Den. In 1986, the Irish-Canadian began his business career by launching the educational software company Softkey with $10,000 from his mother’s investment and leveraging the proceeds from the sale of his SET share.
When it comes to stock investing, Mr. Wonderful seeks names that meet three criteria: They must be quality companies that boast consistently strong financial performance and a solid balance sheet. Second, he believes that a stock portfolio must be diverse across multiple market sectors. Most importantly, however, he demands income, stressing that the companies he invests in should be ones that pay dividends to shareholders. The ALPS O’Shares U.S. Quality Dividend ETF, an ETF offered by O’Shares Investment Advisors, aims to encompass O’Leary’s strategies by holding stocks that combine all three of these characteristics. Since its launch, the ETF has returned 115.18% to shareholders. While high-risk, high-reward investments like those on Shark Tank or volatile assets like Bitcoin can be thrilling, O’Leary believes that a focus on consistent, dependable income should be the basis of a sound portfolio. The venture capitalist summed up this view in a LinkedIn post:
“OUSA is part of the S&P 500, cherry-picking the highest quality balance sheets with positive cash flow from around 100 out of the 500 names. Then there’s OUSM, which grabs the Russell 2000 and weeds out the underperformers – those companies not making any real dough. Forget Shark Tank, forget Bitcoin. Sure, I’ve got a 5% stake in Bitcoin and another 5% in gold, but the meat of my US portfolio? It’s in OUSA or OUSM.”
The Race for TikTok
Former president Joe Biden recently signed a bipartisan bill that deemed TikTok a national security threat and required Bytedance, the platform’s Chinese parent company, to either sell or divest from the platform completely in order for the social media platform to remain available in the United States. During a recent appearance on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom”, Kevin O’Leary claimed to have made an offer of $20 billion in cash to TikTok’s owners to purchase the platform, saying “Right now, $20 billion is on the table, cash, cash, $20 billion.” However, he added that the federal government wasn’t able to verify whether the data of American account holders was actually being shared with Chinese leaders. That said, he believes the risk wasn’t worth it. Moreover, in light of the dwindling timeframe, he said that companies are weighing the risks of maintaining the app’s availability in the U.S., while keeping in mind the potential penalties for any provider who permits access beyond the cutoff date.
“As of midnight on the 19, any service provider … that could be an Apple, that could be an Oracle, it could be a video compression technology company that’s being paid as a consulting service, any of them that keep this thing alive is subject to $5,000 a day fine times 170 million. That’s over a billion dollars a day.”
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Our Methodology
O’Leary typically favors equities of well-established, financially stable companies with strong balance sheets and a history of consistent dividend growth. The following holdings are the top 15 from the ALPS O’Shares U.S. Quality Dividend ETF (BATS:OUSA). For these stocks, we have also provided the hedge fund sentiment, as of Q3 2024.
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).
15. Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE:MMC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 54
Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE:MMC) is a multinational leader in people, strategy, and risk management. Its four businesses—Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer, and Oliver Wyman—advise clients in about 130 countries. The company generates about half of its revenue outside of the U.S.
JPMorgan analyst Jimmy Bhular raised the price target for Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE:MMC) from $230 to $235 on January 3. The analyst remains upbeat about market trends in the property and casualty sector as the year progresses, stating that the group will do better on account of its defensive risk profile and steady pricing.
In Q3 2024, the company reported a 12% increase in adjusted operating income and a 5% increase in underlying revenue. It also reported a consolidated revenue of $5.7 billion and an adjusted EPS of $1.63. The $7.75 billion purchase of McGriff Insurances Services was a significant expansion step for Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE:MMC), which is anticipated to generate between $400 million and $500 million in EBITDA.
14. Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 57
Based in Dallas, Texas, Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) is an American technology company that designs and manufactures semiconductors and other integrated circuits that it sells to electronics designers and producers globally.
In December of last year, Benchmark maintained its $250 price target on TXN and reaffirmed its Buy rating on the stock. The firm expressed its confidence in Texas Instruments’ capacity to handle the fluctuations around demands in the semiconductor industry. This sentiment was supported by a Fireside Chat that Benchmark conducted with the company’s management. The firm also pointed towards Texas Instrument’s strategic emphasis on the automotive and industrial sectors as a major contributor to its resilience. These industries are expected to gain from the increased semiconductor content brought about by electrification advancements, in addition to being sizable and diverse in terms of applications.
Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) reported revenue of over $4.1 billion in the third quarter of 2024, down from $4.5 billion in the same quarter a year ago. With a net income of $1.36 billion, the operating profit came in more than $1.55 billion. Moreover, Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) returned $5.2 billion to shareholders, spent $4.8 billion on capital expenditures, and allocated $3.7 billion to R&D and SG&A expenses over the past year.
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