We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire David Einhorn. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Alight Inc. (NYSE:ALIT) stands against the other best stocks to buy according to Billionaire David Einhorn.
The markets are broken and getting worse. That’s the stance held by billionaire investor David Einhorn, who insists we are in a secular destruction of the professional asset management community. The sentiments come against one of the longest bull runs that have resulted in valuations in the equity markets getting out of hand.
While the S&P 500 is at record highs after a 30% plus gain year to date, Einhorn views the markets as fundamentally broken. Passive investors with no opinion or concern about value have been the main drivers pushing the market higher while shunning underlying fundamentals. According to Einhorn, passive investors increasingly buy into market indexes by default, propping growth stocks at the expense of value stocks.
Likewise, the billionaire hedge fund manager laments that value investors are increasingly marginalized.
“And so effectively instead of the valuation becoming the signal, the valuation people were just noise and everybody else is sort of the signal. And this is why I think we have a structurally dysfunctional market, a bit of a broken market, and essentially a perpetual erosion of value as a strategy, as you would,” Einhorn said in an interview with CNBC.
The sentiments underline the growing concerns that value stocks are becoming increasingly cheaper and cheaper relative to their underlying fundamentals. That’s in part because investors are turning their attention to indexes and growth stocks, resulting in overstretched valuations. Increased focus on growth stocks at the expense of value stocks has resulted in one of the most expensive stock markets in decades.
Amid the premium valuations, David Einhorn insists there is still some value to unlock by focusing on value stocks trading at discounted valuations. By focusing on value investments, Einhorn has generated strong long-term returns through Greenlight Capital, the hedge fund he founded in 1996 with $900,000 from family and friends.
Likewise, Greenlight Capital rose to prominence at the height of the financial crisis, as Einhorn sensed a window of opportunity to generate some returns by shorting the stock of Lehman brothers. Similarly, it was on the news in 2002 as it shorted Allied Capital, a transaction that was validated in 2002 by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Since 1996, Greenlight Capital has averaged 13.1% in annual returns compared to 9.5% gains for the S&P 500. The outperformance comes from Einhorn emphasizing the balancing of long- and short-term exposure in investments. Likewise, he advocates monitoring industry risks and obtaining insurance against foreseeable macro threats.
Additionally, stock picking has always been essential as one of Einhorn's key investment strategies of integrating considerable picture awareness into successful portfolio management strategies. Diversification as one of the ways of spreading risks is also Einhorn’s key investment strategies.
“Having my eyes open to the big picture doesn’t mean abandoning stock picking, but it does mean managing the long-short exposure ratio more actively, worrying about what may be brewing in certain industries, and, when appropriate, buying some just-in-case insurance for foreseeable macro risks even if they are hard to time,” Einhorn said.
Greenlight Capital Investor Letter
Our Methodology
To make the list of the best stocks to buy according to billionaire David Einhorn, we scanned Greenlight Capital’s investment portfolio. We then settled on the hedge fund’s largest holdings analyzing why they stand out and the number of hedge funds that hold stakes in them. Finally, we ranked the stocks in ascending order based on Greenlight Capital's stake value.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with 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).
Alight Inc. (NYSE:ALIT) is a technology company that provides cloud-based integrated digital human capital and business solutions. It offers employee well-being, integrated benefits administration, healthcare navigation, and optimization services for cloud platforms. The stock is down by about 16.05% for the year; its sentiments in the market hurt by lower volumes and reduced commercial activity. The winding down of the Hosted business operations has also weighed significantly on its operations.
Nevertheless, Alight Inc. (NYSE:ALIT) has moved to strengthen its long-term prospects through cloud migration transformation. Consequently, it is on course to receive $75 million in annualized savings as it focuses on technology-rich benefit services business. Expectations are high that Alight will return to robust growth and could see double-digit annual recurring revenue bookings growth.
In its third quarter, revenue was only down by 0.4% to $555 million, as recurring revenue accounted for 91% of the total revenue. On the other hand, contracted revenue was up by 9%. Gross profit increased to $174 million from $166 million delivered last year in the same quarter. However, net loss increased to $44 million from $40 million a year ago.
Alight Inc. (NYSE:ALIT) uses AI and machine learning to improve its business. Their AI engine, Alight LumenAI, enhances the Alight Worklife platform, making HR and financial tasks easier. This helps attract and keep clients by predicting patterns and spotting problems early. Alight is a leader in HR technology, benefiting from businesses wanting better employee experiences and streamlined HR processes.
Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Alight, Inc. (NYSE:ALIT) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“We exited four positions during the quarter, including SiTime, AppFolio, RH, Doximity, and Alight, Inc. (NYSE:ALIT). Our position in Alight, a benefits outsourcing and business process-as-a-service company, was an unsuccessful investment. We decided to move on due to activist pressure that led to a breakup of the business. We were dissatisfied with both the plan and the new standalone business. This culminated with the CEO leaving and uncertainty over the company’s long-term strategic direction. As a result, we felt it was time to move on with better investment ideas in our pipeline.”
Overall, ALIT ranks 8th on our list of best stocks to buy according to Billionaire David Einhorn. While we acknowledge the potential of ALIT to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ALIT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
