Aristotle Atlantic Partners, LLC, an investment advisor, has released its “Core Equity Strategy” investor letter for the second quarter of 2024. During this period, the U.S. equity market reached a record high. Aristotle Atlantic’s Core Equity strategy delivered a return of 5.61% gross of fees (5.51% net of fees), outperforming the S&P 500 Index’s total return of 4.28%. This relative outperformance was primarily driven by effective security selection, particularly in the Information Technology and Health Care sectors, although Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary detracted from performance. Investors can review the fund’s top five holdings to identify its best picks for 2024.
In its Q2 2024 investor letter, Aristotle Atlantic Core Equity Strategy highlighted stocks such as Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, operates through segments including Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. Despite a one-month return of -0.95%, Alphabet’s shares gained 41.60% over the last 52 weeks. On July 23, 2024, Alphabet’s stock closed at $183.60 per share, with a market capitalization of $2.257 trillion.
Alphabet significantly contributed to portfolio performance in the second quarter, driven by a robust earnings report that exceeded revenue expectations across all business segments. The company’s positive outlook on the long-term monetization of its AI investments, initiation of dividends, and expansion of its share buyback program further bolstered its performance. Additionally, evidence suggests that competitors’ generative AI applications have not disrupted Alphabet’s search business, enabling the company to maintain its market leadership and attract additional advertising revenue.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) ranks 7th on our list of the 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 165 hedge fund portfolios held Alphabet at the end of the first quarter, compared to 166 in the previous quarter. In Q1, Alphabet generated $80.5 billion in revenues, a 15% increase year-over-year. While we recognize Alphabet’s potential as an investment, we believe that AI stocks offer greater promise for delivering higher returns in a shorter timeframe. For those seeking an AI stock as promising as NVIDIA but trading at less than five times its earnings, check out our report on the cheapest AI stock.