Billionaires and top hedge fund managers dominate the market with large investments in leading companies with strong track records and exceptional performance. These investors have large capital and they like to invest in established companies rather than betting on underperformers.
How’s the Stock Market Performing in 2025 So Far?
The S&P 500 index has reached its all-time highs, achieving returns of over 20% for the second consecutive year post-COVID. Billionaire investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett made a bold move in 2024, selling a record $134 billion of net stock. Buffett’s move has raised concerns for investors and analysts. Historically, when Buffett’s firm becomes a net seller, it’s often followed by below-average market performance. Many believe that this could be a signal of stock market underperformance in 2025.
The stock market has already taken a hit in 2025 following the release of Chinese AI model DeepSeek. Almost $1 trillion was wiped away from the U.S. stock market in January 2025. Now, the market is reacting to President Donald Trump’s tariff policy, as the U.S. initiates 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
“Tariffs increase the odds of a negative feedback loop in the economy. Nobody believed they would be implemented,” said Dennis Debusschere, founder of 22V Research.
The S&P 500 has been underperforming its global peers in 2025 so far, with equity indexes in China, Europe, Canada, and Mexico all racing ahead. S&P 500 has slid nearly 1.90% year-to-date, as of March 4. Whereas, the tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 index has dropped over 4% so far this year.
According to Deutsche Bank strategist Parag Thatte, equity positioning dropped significantly in the week ended February 28, plunging back down to near neutral and wiping out the post-election bump.
Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman in an interview during the Squawk Box show on CNBC recently said that the president is on the right track, but he is doing things in a very destabilizing manner. The president is focusing on reducing the deficit, which is the right thing to do, Cooperman added.
The transition phase seems to have a much bigger impact on the broader market, coupled with the tariff policy. Ironsides Macroeconomics’ Barry Knapp expects the Fed to cut a full percent this year, with the first cut projected in May. Knapp added that the economy needs to shift from government spending to capital spending for a better environment for business.
Our Methodology
For the best stocks to invest in according to billionaires, we analyzed Insider Monkey’s exclusive database of billionaire stock holdings. We selected the 30 best stocks to invest in based on the highest number of billionaire investors, updated as of Q4 2024. For the stocks with the same number of billionaire holdings, we have used the total value of billionaire holdings as a secondary metric to rank the stocks. These billionaires are founders or managers of some of the world’s leading hedge funds and companies. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the aforementioned metrics.
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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Salesforce, Inc. (CRM): Agentforce AI Platform Shows Strong Early Momentum
A customer service team in an office setting using the company's Customer 360 platform to communicate with customers.
Total Value of Billionaire Holdings: $9.03 Billion
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is a cloud-based CRM company. The company’s AI-powered platform Agentforce has gained popularity amid the growing demand for AI products and services.
On February 26, Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss maintained a Buy rating on CRM shares and kept the price target at $405 per share. The analyst's buy rating follows CRM’s robust performance in key investor metrics. In particular, Salesforce's current remaining performance obligations have grown at 11% on a constant currency basis, exceeding both the company’s guidance and investor expectations.
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) remains a dominant force in the CRM market. The company’s expanding AI and Data Cloud capabilities add to its strength in the CRM market. The company’s Data Cloud and AI segments have reported remarkable growth, with annual recurring revenue reaching $900 million in Q4 2024, up 120% from a year ago. Agentforce has experienced strong adoption, closing 5,000 deals since October 2024, with more than 3,000 being paid. Whereas, Data Cloud continues to scale, surpassing 50 trillion records, doubling year-over-year. Almost half of the Fortune 100 companies are both AI and Data Cloud customers, and the company's top 10 deals in Q4 each included AI and Data integration.
Overall CRM ranks 12th on our list of the best stocks to invest in according to billionaires. While we acknowledge the potential of CRM as an investment, 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 CRM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
