Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) are three stocks that are beloved by two of the most influential investors in the world: billionaire investing icon Ken Fisher and CNBC analyst and former hedge fund manager Jim Cramer.
Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is one of the largest and most successful hedge funds in history, managing nearly $200 billion in assets for nearly 100,000 clients. Much of those assets are invested in the North American stock market, with the fund’s 13F portfolio being valued at close to $181 billion as of June 30.
Fisher’s bullish on the near-term and future prospects for the stock market as it enters a post-midterms period he dubs the “gridlock gravy”, when political aversion and uncertainty wanes, loosening up stock returns. Earlier this year, Fisher told BNN Bloomberg that while he isn’t certain where stocks will be in a few months, he believes they’ll be “much higher” in two years.
Fisher has had incredible success with many of the stocks featured in this article, some of which he’s held for more than two decades and enjoyed returns of over 1,000% on. If you’re looking for some high upside stocks that could be Ken Fisher’s next ten-baggers, check out Ken Fisher’s Top 15 Growth Stock Picks.
Jim Cramer is a popular CNBC investment analyst and a former hedge fund manager whose buy recommendations have been tracked for several months by the LJIM ETF, allowing us to formulate a list of stocks that both he and Ken Fisher love. That fund is planning to shutter in a few days however after attracting just $1.3 million in assets since March, during which time the fund has returned a modest 2.2%.
On the other hand, the SJIM ETF, which bets against those same recommendations from Cramer, will continue to trade, those it’s performed even worse than LJIM, losing about 4.4%. Needless to say, Cramer does have some detractors, as well as a running meme in some circles that as soon as he recommends something, investors should sell. Outright betting against his stock picks certainly isn’t working this year however.
In addition to his buy recommendations, Cramer also advises viewers and investors on other aspects of the market and urges them to plan accordingly for the potential pitfalls looming in the future, such as the possibility of a U.S. debt crisis. To weather your portfolio against such a storm, check out 10 Stocks Jim Cramer Thinks Can Weather a Debt Default.
Fisher and Cramer are certainly in lockstep when it comes to some of their favorite stock picks. The Cramer ETF, which has just 22 long positions, has five of Fisher’s top six holdings and ten of its top 63. Let’s see which stocks the two investment gurus are in agreement on heading towards the final quarter of 2023.
Jim Cramer and Billionaire Ken Fisher Love These 10 Stocks
Our Methodology
The following data is gathered from Fisher Asset Management’s latest 13F filing with the SEC, as well as the buy recommendations made by Jim Cramer, as tracked by the LJIM ETF. We follow hedge funds like Fisher Asset Management because Insider Monkey’s research has uncovered that their consensus stock picks can deliver outstanding returns.
All hedge fund data is based on the exclusive group of 900+ funds tracked by Insider Monkey that filed 13Fs for the Q2 2023 reporting period.
Jim Cramer and Billionaire Ken Fisher Love These 10 Stocks
Value of Fisher Asset Management’s 13F Position: $909 million
Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 56
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) are three of Ken Fisher’s biggest holdings, but only Microsoft has been in his 13F portfolio as long as RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) (formerly Raytheon). Fisher’s held a long position in RTX dating back to the second quarter of 2002, and 21 years later, raised his stake in the company by 3% during Q2 of this year. It ranks as Fisher’s 63rd largest 13F holding as of June 30. Hedge fund ownership of RYX rose by 17% during Q2.
Jim Cramer has been bullish on RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) for several months, declaring on the August 16 edition of CNBC’s Mad Money that he thinks it’s time to buy the stock following its 10% drop on July 25. Cramer expressed similar sentiments in June, telling investors that they have a chance to buy RTX at a discount due to unjustified weakness. Cramer expressed bullishness on the long-term prospects of RTX’s aerospace and defense businesses, saying they’re in poised for many years of gigantic orders.
Carillon Tower noted that RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) expected its defense business to rebound thanks to strong demand, as noted in the fund’s Q3 2022 investor letter:
“Raytheon Technologies Corporation (NYSE:RTX) announced strong results led by strength in its commercial segment, but weakness in its defense business led to investor consternation. Management guided to a recovery in this segment, citing both transitory supply chain issues and continued strong demand.”
Value of Fisher Asset Management’s 13F Position: $919 million
Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 40
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) came in one spot ahead of RTX in Ken Fisher’s 13F portfolio, ranking 62nd. The billionaire money manager has owned a stake in Ford since the final quarter of 2009, and raised the size of his Ford holding by 18% during the second quarter of 2023. Hedge fund ownership of Ford nearly doubled between the middle of 2020 and mid-2021, but has since fallen by 31%.
Jim Cramer visited Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s headquarters and interviewed CEO Jim Farley in June and came away impressed with what he saw and heard. The former hedge fund manager said Ford looks extremely undervalued, even more so than Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), which he also likes, and believes the stock could return to its former $25 highs if he’s right. He likewise described the stock’s downside risk as minimal.
Leaven Partners noted that several major companies, including Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), were forced to issue profit warnings last Q3, as noted in the fund’s Q3 2022 investor letter:
“In our last quarterly letter, I briefly mentioned that the consensus estimates for corporate profits appeared to be a bit too sanguine. I referenced a Reuters article that reported, as of June 17, Wall Street expected S&P 500 earnings to grow by 9.6% in 2022, which was up from 8.8% in April and from 8.4% in January. That tune began to change at the end of July and accelerated in August and September, as major players, such as Ford (NYSE:F), has recently issued profit warnings and/or have withdrawn guidance. In response, Wall Street has altered its outlook: lowering third-quarter profit growth to 4.6%[2] from 7.2% in early August and slashing full-year profit growth to 4.5%.”
Value of Fisher Asset Management’s 13F Position: $1.31 billion
Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 111
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is the 34th largest 13F holding of Ken Fisher, topping $1.3 billion in value as of June 30. Fisher has held a long position in JPM dating all the way back to the third quarter of 2001. Hedge fund ownership of JPMorgan jumped by 15% during the first quarter of the year before falling slightly in the second quarter.
Jim Cramer has been a fan of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) for years, calling the company a fortress on X back in March. He followed that up in July by praising CEO Jamie Dimon and co. for JPMorgan’s “amazing” second quarter results and declared that the company is valued very low given that it’s a colossus. JPM earned net income of $14.5 billion in Q2, up 67% year-over-year, while revenue grew by 34% to $42.4 billion.
The Madison Sustainable Equity Fund noted the positive impact that rising interest rates will have on JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)’s income in the fund’s second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) has rebounded nicely following the mini-bank crisis in March. They held an analyst meeting in May at which they gave updated guidance on net interest income. They expect net interest income to increase to $84 billion from its forecast of $81 billion as First Republic assets will get a nice boost from rising interest rates.”
Value of Fisher Asset Management’s 13F Position: $1.40 billion
Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 230
While a plethora of other hedge funds have bailed on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the past couple years, Ken Fisher has maintained a large position in the social media giant, which he’s owned since early 2014. META was Fisher’s 29th largest 13F holding on June 30, valued at $1.40 billion. There was a 33% drop in the number of funds long META between Q2 2021 and Q3 2022, but hedge funds have been buying back into the stock for three straight quarters since then.
Jim Cramer said that Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was rapidly becoming his favorite stock back in March of this year. That came on the heels of a rough stretch for META and Cramer himself, who had previously urged his viewers to buy META back in June of 2022, only for the stock to crash to seven-year lows a few months later. Cramer gave up on the stock in late October and apologized to his viewers, only to see it surge by 85% over the following few months.
Tumultuous history with the stock aside, Cramer is back aboard the META bandwagon, saying back in July that they’ve trounced everyone, noting in particular the impressive engagement metrics and monetization initiatives of META’s TikTok challenger Reels over on Instagram.
The Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Fund is impressed with the strong user engagement on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s services, as the fund noted in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), the world’s largest social network continued their upward trajectory, rising by 35.4% due to stabilizing revenues and ongoing improvements in margins. Meta reported continued growth in Instagram Reels adoption and other new advertising products. In addition, the company’s advancements in AI continue contributing to its targeting and measurement capabilities, while GenAI innovation presents an opportunity for new products and incremental monetization. The company also achieved a significant milestone of 3 billion daily active users across its family of apps, representing a 5% year-over-year increase. User engagement remains robust, with video content and Instagram Reels playing a significant role in user time on the platform. The monetization gap between Reels and other ad formats is steadily narrowing, and Meta anticipates it will reach revenue neutrality by late 2023 or early 2024. Meta has also reported an increase in its speed and agility of execution following the recent organizational changes and cost cuts. Longer term, we believe Meta will benefit from its leadership in mobile advertising, massive user base, innovative culture, leading GenAI research and potential distribution, and technological scale, with further monetization opportunities ahead.”
Value of Fisher Asset Management’s 13F Position: $2.21 billion
Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 89
Closing out the first half of the list is Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), which ranks as Fisher’s 13th largest 13F holding as of June 30. Fisher has been long ORCL for more than two decades and other hedge funds are now starting to take serious interest in the software and cloud services giant. Hedge fund ownership of Oracle surged by 29% during the second quarter, with Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management and Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investment being among the leading funds to build a stake in the company during the quarter.
On a Mad Money Lightning Round in early August, Jim Cramer was adamant that viewers should buy more Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), saying they should buy it “right here” (around $110-$113; it’s now $121) and noting that it was in his Investing Club’s Bullpen as a stock to monitor. Back in June, Cramer stated that Oracle has quietly become a major player in cloud infrastructure. Oracle’s cloud revenue surged by 76% to $1.4 billion during its fiscal Q4 2023, accelerating from 55% year-over-year growth a quarter earlier.
The Madison Sustainable Equity Fund was bullish on Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s fiscal Q4 results, as the fund relayed in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) reported a solid fiscal fourth quarter and provided guidance for the first quarter that continued to support solid growth for the company. Revenues grew 17% and were primarily driven by Cloud Services (up 29%) with Oracle’s cloud infrastructure (OCI) business growing 89% in the quarter. Oracle has messaged that this business has price-performance advantages as compared to the other infrastructure companies (Amazon, Microsoft, Google) and appears to be winning business as a result. On the earnings call, management made the case that OCI will play a significant role in the Generative AI workloads which bodes well for continued growth.”
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are stalwart holdings of Ken Fisher’s portfolio that Jim Cramer also loves. Check out all the details by clicking the link below.
