In this article, we will take a look at billionaire Andreas Halvorsen’s top 10 stock picks.
Ole Andreas Halvorsen, the founder and CEO of Viking Global, has built one of the most respected names in the hedge fund world. Born in Norway, Halvorson graduated with an undergraduate degree in economics from Williams College in 1986. He then later earned a postgraduate business degree from Stanford University. Having received his first taste of finance while working for Morgan Stanley, he’s part of an elite group of investors known as the “Tiger Cubs,” former protégés of hedge fund legend Julian Robertson, who went on to launch their own successful firms.
Viking Global, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, has grown into an investment powerhouse. Back in 2023, the firm delivered an impressive $6 billion in returns for its investors, ranking just behind heavyweights like Citadel and TCI. Much of this success came from smart bets on big names. In the same year, Halvorsen decided to reopen Viking Global’s long/short flagship fund to new investors. Over a decade ago, he had closed the fund, citing its size as a barrier to uncovering profitable trading opportunities.
That said, Halvorsen isn’t just about bullish bets. While long positions are Viking Global’s bread and butter, the firm has also employed strategies that allow it to profit from short positions during turbulent market years like 2020 and 2022. The billionaire firmly believes that effective and profitable trading requires careful analysis and disciplined, long-term valuation. This philosophy has shaped Viking Global’s portfolio into a balanced mix of both long-term and short-term investments. While his primary focus remains on long-term stakes in public and private companies, Halvorsen isn’t afraid to embrace “thoughtful risk-taking” to maximize returns. This balanced approach, combining strategic risk with a commitment to disciplined analysis, is at the heart of Viking Global’s success.
This year, Viking’s funds have been making a strong comeback. Its hybrid fund, Viking Global Opportunities, which invests in both public stocks and private companies, earned a modest 1% return in the third quarter, trimming its year-to-date losses to 1.6%. Meanwhile, its private-asset fund, Viking Global Opportunities Drawdown, gained 4.2% for the quarter, bringing its total return for the year to 8.3%. After a rough second quarter, these results show Viking is back on track and making waves in the investment world. Overall, as of Q3 2024, Halvorsen’s 13F portfolio reflects a strong focus on the healthcare, finance, services, and technology sectors. The portfolio’s total value stands at over $27.43 billion, marking a 1.05% increase compared to the previous quarter.
Andreas Halvorsen of Viking Global
Our Methodology
For this analysis, we examined Viking Global’s stock portfolio from the third quarter of 2024. The stocks are ranked based on the firm’s stake value in each holding.
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).
10. APi Group Corp. (NYSE:APG)
Viking Global’s Q3 Stake: $848.9 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 55
APi Group Corp. (NYSE:APG) is a leading safety services provider specializing in end-to-end integrated occupancy systems, including fire protection, HVAC, and entry systems. Its offerings span design, installation, inspection, and maintenance services, catering to customers across the energy, industrial, and commercial sectors.
On November 24, Baird raised its price target for APi Group Corp. (NYSE:APG) stock from $39 to $40, maintaining an Outperform rating. This revision followed analysts’ site visits and assessments of APG’s recent acquisition and its implications for growth. During these visits, Baird analysts engaged with APG field management and customers, marking the first investor-focused visit to Elevated, the company’s newly acquired elevator maintenance division. Baird highlighted that this acquisition significantly broadens APG’s service portfolio and establishes a promising platform for future mergers and acquisitions.
APi Group Corp. (NYSE:APG) also reported solid growth during its Q3 2024 earnings call. Revenue increased by 2.4% year-over-year to $1.83 billion, driven by organic growth within the Safety Services segment. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 9.4%, with the company reaffirming its commitment to achieving a 13% adjusted EBITDA margin by 2025. Despite project delays impacting revenues by approximately $150 million, APG remains optimistic about sustained growth and margin improvement. The company also reported an adjusted gross margin rise to 31% and a 9% year-over-year increase in adjusted diluted EPS, reaching $0.51.
9. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Viking Global’s Q3 Stake: $879.7 million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 279
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), a global tech powerhouse, is known for its productivity software, cloud services, and personal computing solutions. Its offerings include Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365, and Azure cloud services, among others. The tech giant has also partnered with Accenture and Avanade to help businesses modernize their operations using artificial intelligence and Microsoft Copilot.
In the fiscal first quarter of 2025, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported $65.5 billion in revenue, marking a 16% year-over-year increase, with net income rising 11% to $24.7 billion. The company credits its AI-driven transformation for enhanced workflows, operational efficiencies, and greater customer satisfaction. Its productivity and business processes segment posted 12% growth, generating $28.3 billion in revenue, with Microsoft 365 leading the charge, also reporting a 12% revenue increase.
On November 25, TD Cowen reiterated a Buy rating for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), maintaining a price target of $475. The update followed Microsoft’s Ignite conference, where the company introduced about 80 new products and features, many centered on advancing AI, including groundbreaking AI Agent capabilities.
Baron Opportunity Fund stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the world’s largest software and cloud computing company. Microsoft was traditionally known for its Windows and Office products, but over the last five years it has built a $147 billion run-rate cloud business, including its Azure cloud infrastructure service and its Office 365 and Dynamics 365 cloud-delivered applications. Shares gave back some gains from strong performance over the first half of this year. For the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024, Microsoft reported a strong quarter with total revenue growing 16%, in line with the Street; Microsoft Cloud up 22%; Azure up 30%; 43% operating income margins; and 36% free cash flow margins. Core Azure growth came in one point shy of expectations, however, due to a soft European market and continued constraints on AI compute capacity. In the same vein, while Microsoft reiterated its fiscal 2025 targets of double-digit top-line and operating income growth, quarterly guidance called for Azure growth to slow a bit before accelerating in the back half of the fiscal year, as capital expenditures increase, yielding an expansion of AI compute capacity. We believe this investment is a leading indicator for growth, with more than half of the spend related to durable land and data center build outs, which should monetize over the next 15-plus years. We remain confident that Microsoft is one of the best-positioned companies across the overlapping software, cloud computing, and AI landscapes, and we remain investors.”