In this article, we will take a look at Ken Fisher's top 15 stock picks. To see more such companies, go directly to Ken Fisher's Top 5 Stock Picks.
Markets are still in a wait-and-see more as risks of inflationary pressures continue to haunt investors. Many believe the Federal Reserve’s battle against inflation is not over yet and if the central bank caps off its rate-hike spree to soon, chances are that inflation will make a comeback and haunt the economy for years. Amid the stock market rally this year, investors thought the stock market bears were on the retreat as recession warnings were going in the background. But as markets become jittery and pressures in the banking sector and China become visible, bear calls are getting more attention. A Bloomberg report recently cited Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of the Boston-based investment firm Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo, who reiterated his recession warnings. Otterloo said that his earlier recession warning was proven to be wrong because of the AI-led rally. But he believes “it’s perhaps too little too late to save us from a recession.”
Many other analysts have been calling the AI-led rally short-lived. They say AI as entered the hype territory and pushed the valuations of tech stocks to dangerously high levels. There are signs telling that the AI rally is about to end. The same Bloomberg report cited Emmanuel Cau, a strategist at Barclays Plc, who said in a note that the markets are facing a “perfect storm” amid bad news from China, “poor summer liquidity” and rate hikes.
What's Behind Ken Fisher's Optimism?
Despite the recession warnings, long-term analysts and successful investors like Ken Fisher believe now is the time to take opportunity from market swings. Markets rise and fall and it’s up to investors how they use these swings to their advantage. Billionaire Ken Fisher has been consistently optimistic over the past several months despite rate hikes, inflation, banking crisis and other doom and gloom calls. Other investors like Fisher who like to see their money stay invested in the market and enjoy the compounding effect also have the same stance. But why and how these investors can stay optimistic? A report by Russell Investments takes a look at the importance of “staying invested” in the stock market. The report analyzes stock market data spanning ten years. A hypothetical investment of CAD 100,000 in S&P/TSX Composite Index would surge to $239,816 in ten years assuming that the investor remains invested in all days, including the bad and worst days. On the other hand, if the investor misses on just 10 “best days” the initial investment would surge to $147,184. The report mentions the results of missing other windows of best days, showing how important it is to stay invested in the stock market if ones does not want to miss out on the real gains of market upswings. The report adds:
Stocks have historically outperformed bonds when based on average rolling returns over one, three, five, 10 and 20 years. Just as compelling is the traditional ability of a balanced portfolio to produce positive returns. ... A global balanced portfolio of equities and bonds has not produced a negative return over any five-year rolling period since 1979. The bottom line is that, although there are no guarantees the future will resemble the past, history tends to favour long-term investors.
Seen in this perspective, it truly does not matter what happens to the market in the next few weeks. Given that one is invested in the right stocks or ETFs and let the market perform its wonders, short-term volatility should not affect the long-term investment outlook. Let’s see in what stocks billionaire Ken Fisher is invested in in the current environment.
Ken Fisher's Top Stock Picks in 2023
Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management Our Methodology
For this article, we scanned Ken Fisher’s second quarter of 2023 portfolio and picked his top 15 holdings. The list is ranked in ascending order of Fisher’s stake value in these companies.
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) ranks 15th in our list of the top 15 stock picks of billionaire Ken Fisher. Fisher’s hedge fund had a stake worth over $2 billion in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V). As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, 171 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V). Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) recently posted solid quarterly results driven by upbeat consumer spending. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is benefitting from summer tourism and a broader recovery in travel.
Manole Capital Management made the following comment about Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“We like to start out all of our discussions by telling investors who we are. We are FINTECH investors, and we define Fintech as “anything utilizing technology to improve an established process.” We realize that half of Fintech is financial, but we don’t invest in traditional, credit sensitive banks. Having managed money during the Financial Crisis, we learned firsthand how certain opaque and balance sheet intensive financials could go bankrupt or insolvent.
American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) ranks 14th in our list of the top stock picks of Ken Fisher in 2023. Fisher Asset Management owns a $2 billion stake in the payments giant.
American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)’s US consumer credit card delinquency rate was 1.1% in July, unchanged from June.
ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy made the following comment about American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) in its first quarter 2023 investor letter:
” Other financial holdings were among the top contributors, such as American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), whose business is less sensitive to changes in the yield curve than most financials, and Progressive, which has minimal interest rate mismatch exposure.”
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) ranks 13th in our list of the top 15 stock picks of billionaire Ken Fisher. In July Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) posted Q2 results. Adjusted EPS in the quarter came in at $0.35, missing estimates by $0.02. Revenue in the quarter jumped 5.9% year over year to $5.74 billion, beating estimates by $80 million. As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, Ken Fisher’s hedge fund had a $2.2 billion stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX).
Diamond Hill Large Cap Strategy made the following comment about Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in its Q4 2022 investor letter:
“Other top contributors during the quarter were copper producer Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) and health care facilities operator HCA Healthcare. With little fundamental news to report, Freeport-McMoRan’s share price advance in Q4 reflected a rebound in copper prices, driven by the recognition that copper inventories are low relative to historical norms. We believe the company continues to have meaningful price and volume leverage in a copper constrained world.”
Ken Fisher upped his stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 3% in the second quarter, ending the period with a $2.21 billion stake in the company.
As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, 84 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL). This was much higher than 67 hedge funds that had stakes in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) as of the end of March 2023. This shows Oracle is being favored by smart money investors. Year to date Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) shares have gained about 37% in value.
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) made news earlier this year after the company launched some AI features for its HR-related product.
Madison Sustainable Equity Fund made the following comment about Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) 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.”
Another stock that is getting buoyed on the back of the AI boom, Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) is up about 51% year to date. Ken Fisher has been benefitting from this rally as he has a $2.4 billion stake in Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE). As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, 109 hedge funds out of the 910 tracked by Insider Monkey were long Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE), compared to 99 funds in the previous quarter. This clearly shows hedge funds increased their bets on Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) amid the AI boom.
BofA recently upgraded Adobe stock citing AI potential. BofA analyst Brad Sills upped his rating for Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) to Buy from Neutral and also increased his price target to $630 from $575.
The analyst noted that Adobe is ahead of the curve in AI and Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) is expected to see growth in fiscal 2024.
Polen Global Growth Strategy made the following comment about Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“While Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)’s growth has moderated from high teens to low teens during the past couple of years, Adobe continues to deliver solid growth, and management raised its full-year guidance during the most recent quarter. The company also introduced some AI product enhancements, which seem to have helped shift the narrative from “AI is going to be bad for Adobe” to “AI is going to be good.” Finally, the company continues to work towards the Figma acquisition.
Ken Fisher’s hedge fund owns about $2.7 billion worth of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) shares as of the end of the second quarter of 2023. The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) recently posted weak Q2 results. Operating income in the period fell 6.6% to $6.59 billion. Net earnings fell about 9.9% to $4.66 billion. EPS in the period came in at $4.65, compared to $5.05 a year ago and missing estimates of $4.45.
For the full-year 2023, The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) sees its comparable sales down 2% to 5% versus the consensus estimate of a 3.9% decline.
Madison Sustainable Equity Fund made the following comment about The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) celebrates 30 years of giving back. Team Depot was created in 1993 as a way of organizing associates who were eager to volunteer in their communities. For 30 years, Team Depot associates have worked side by side with non-profits around the United States. Focus areas include spending time with the elderly and activities with at risk youth. Team Depot also improves the homes and lives of veterans and helps communities impacted by natural disasters.
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares have gained about 8% over the past one year. Ken Fisher’s hedge fund reported owning a $2.9 billion stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) at the end of the June quarter.
As of the end of the second quarter of 2023, 122 hedge funds out of the 910 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database reported owning stakes in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM).
Ithaka US Growth Strategy made the following comment about Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in its first quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is the largest pure-play cloud software company, holding a leading market share in customer relationship management applications and a top-five market share position in the company’s other clouds (Marketing, Service, Platform, Analytics, Integration, and Commerce). The company’s software subscription term-license model differs from the traditional perpetual-license software model in two respects: (1) the software is hosted on centralized servers and delivered over the internet, as opposed to traditional enterprise software that is loaded directly onto customers’ hard drives or servers; and (2) the revenue model is subscription-based, typically charging monthly fees per user as opposed to charging one-time licensing fees. The stock’s strong relative performance followed a strong F4Q23 earnings release that easily beat Street expectations on the top- and bottom-lines. In addition to the beat, management announced a number of initiatives that activist investors have been clamoring for, specifically a halt to large M&A transactions and a focus on operating profitability.”
8. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM)
Ken Fisher's Stake:$2.99 billion
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) ranks 8th in our list of the top stock picks of Ken Fisher. Ken Fisher’s hedge fund owns a $2.99 billion stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM). Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM)’s net revenue in July jumped about 13.6% month-over-month to about NT$177.62B.
A total of 121 hedge funds out of the 910 funds in Insider Monkey’s database reported owning stakes in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM). The biggest stakeholder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) during this period was
Baron Emerging Markets Fund made the following comment about Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) in its first quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Semiconductor giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) contributed in the first quarter due to easing geopolitical concerns and expectations for end-demand recovery later in 2023. We retain conviction that Taiwan Semi’s technological leadership; pricing power; and exposure to secular growth markets, including high-performance computing, automotive, 5G, and IoT; will allow the company to sustain strong earnings growth over the next several years.”
While Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) shares have gained about 61% year to date, the stock has been under pressure over the past few days amid concerns that NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) will remain the market leader in the chips industry amid the edge it has in the AI space. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is also down due to a broader downturn in semiconductor stocks.
Ken Fisher owns a $3 billion stake in Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) as of the end of the second quarter of 2023.
L1 Capital International Fund made the following comment about Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“During the June 2023 quarter the AI bubble continued to inflate. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), as a key challenger to Nvidia, will benefit from increased demand for its next generation semiconductor chips. AMD’s share price is reflecting very bullish sentiment and the share price has run ahead of a reasonable base case valuation. Accordingly, we divested our entire position and moved AMD to our Bench.”
Netherlands-based semiconductor company ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) ranks 6th in our list of the best stocks to buy according to billionaire Ken Fisher. Fisher Asset Management owns a $3.5 billion stake in ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML).
Overall, 55 hedge funds out of the 910 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) as of the end of the second quarter of 2023.
Saltlight Capital made the following comment about ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) has no competitor. We’d characterise it as a monetary ‘apex’ predator. This privileged position allows the company to capture value within the semiconductor ecosystem. You can see it in their margins and operating leverage. ASML’s customers are so eager for their products that they are willing to pay upfront, two years before a machine is even delivered! This is a testament to the company’s unrivalled capabilities and the high demand for its unique offerings. It will keep this privileged position as long as it continues to push the frontiers of chip density.
