We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Tech Stocks to Buy According to Brad Gerstner. In this article, we are going to take a look at where PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) stands against the other tech stocks.
Gerstner is Bullish on Tech in 2024
On December 1, 2023, Brad Gerstner, the CEO of Altimeter Capital, appeared in an interview on CNBC where he explained that tech stocks are expected to outperform non-tech stocks in 2024. Over the past 10 years, tech earnings have compounded at almost 16% and non-tech earnings have compounded at 6%. 2023 was a rebound year for the tech industry after a downturn in 2022 due to rising interest rates. Big Tech companies and their operational efficiencies have poised them for strong growth. While inflation and interest rates will determine what goes down, companies that have invested in augmented intelligence will experience secular growth. Gerstner thinks that the spread between 16% and 6% will be a recurring trend in 2024.
Gerstner Thinks Now is the Right Time to Invest in Tech
On June 11, Brad Gerstner made another appearance on CNBC and addressed the speculation surrounding the software industry. Gerstner suggested that despite headwinds, the software industry is still valuable as companies and startups are still making deals. Gerstner believes there are three main reasons for the downward trajectory of the software industry. He thinks that CEOs and CTOs are cautious when it comes to making investments in software. Executives want a clearer picture of the AI boom before making risky investments. Moreover, interest rates are higher than expectations, due to delayed rate cuts and compressing multiples. Lastly, general uncertainty about the future has been detrimental to the growth of the software industry. Gerstner pointed out that since the software industry is trading at 20% below its ten-year average, this may be the best time to allocate stakes in software companies. You can also take a look at the best Robinhood stocks under $20.
Gerstner thinks data and databases are extremely vital to AI applications. He thinks that companies using data to power AI are far ahead of companies simply automating services. Big Tech companies have data at the forefront of all their artificial intelligence applications. You can also read our piece on the stocks hedge funds are crazy about right now.
Brad Gerstner is bullish on tech, and particularly software and AI. In Q1 2024, he initiated 6 new positions and also raised his stakes in 2 stocks, ending the quarter with a portfolio of $6.5 billion in 13F securities. With that, let’s discuss his top tech stock picks.
Our Methodology
We scanned Altimeter Capital’s Q1 portfolio and picked growth stocks from the fund’s top 13F holdings. Additionally, we’ve also added overall hedge fund sentiment, as of Q1 2024. 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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
Note: All pricing data is as of June 28.
A close-up of a customer using the company’s e-commerce platform whilst shopping online.
PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD)
Altimeter Capital’s Stake Value: $205,521,979
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 76
PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) ranks eighth on our list of the best tech stocks to buy according to Brad Gerstner. The stock makes up 3.15% of Gertsner’s portfolio. The company is a multinational commerce group that owns Temu and Pinduoduo and holds a 20% market share in China’s e-commerce industry. While Pinduoduo is one of the most prominent online agriculture platforms in China, Temu is rapidly expanding as an e-commerce platform in the United States and Europe. PDD Holdings is creating an ecosystem of cheap products and an exemplary consumer-to-manufacturer model. In the first quarter of 2024, PDD Holding’s total revenue reached RMB 86.8 billion, a 131% increase year-over-year. To expand its offerings, the company is cooperating with leading brands from across the globe.
In 2020, the company’s vice president of strategy and local shared some insights on their work for the agri-tech sector. The company is committed to inculcating technology in agriculture by empowering farmers. Here are some comments from Andre Zhu:
“We’re giving the farmers a tech toolbox so they can actually take the guesswork out of the planting and reap the benefits of technology. You know (the) Chinese agriculture (working) population is expected to decline”
In its latest earnings release, the company stated that it will remain committed to its foundation, which is agriculture. They expect to support agriculture technology innovation by launching its fourth smart agriculture competition and its second Duo Duo Academy. In Spring, the company partnered with over 1,000 agri-based regions to find and add more quality agri products to their platform. PDD Holding’s agriculture cloud initiative is now gaining momentum in major agri-producing regions including Anhui, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Shandong.
Baron Funds is also bullish on the stock as it allows customers to buy in bulk directly from manufacturers. Here are some comments from Baron Funds’ Q4 2023 investor letter:
“We added to our digitization theme by building a position in PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD), a leading Chinese e-commerce platform. Founded in 2015, the company has emerged as China’s second largest e-commerce player, capturing approximately 20% market share. In our view, PDD’s competitive moat lies in its team purchase model that facilitates bulk buying through direct partnerships with manufacturers, thereby eliminating intermediaries (e.g., distributors and middlemen) and lowering costs. Key factors driving the company’s meteoric growth include rising consumer demand for affordable products in China amid an economic slowdown, small-scale merchants seeking alternatives to Alibaba, and superior management execution. PDD’s revenue growth outpaces gross merchandize value growth owing to rising take rates as merchants aggressively compete for consumer traffic on the platform. In our view, PDD should continue to gain market share given its dominance in the value-for-money segment, growing affordable branded product offerings, and high operational efficiency. We believe the company’s growth will be further supported by the recent launch of its international e-commerce platform, Temu, which has become one of the fastest growing apps globally. Leveraging China’s excess manufacturing capacity, Temu has strong negotiating power with domestic suppliers and attracts global consumers with competitively priced products. Temu’s recent initiatives to improve unit economics, coupled with achieving variable breakeven in the sizable U.S. market, showcase management’s skill and commitment to sustained growth. We expect PDD to at least double its earnings and free cash flow in the next three years, with the potential for continued compounding thereafter.”
Overall, 76 investors were bullish on the stock at the end of Q1 2024, with total stakes amounting to $5.79 billion. PDD is attractive at current levels. The stock is trading 12 times its forward earnings, a discount of 27% from its sector P/E, and analysts expect earnings to expand by 84% this year and 139% in 2025.
Overall PDD ranks 8th on our list of the best tech stocks to buy according to Brad Gerstner. You can visit 10 Best Tech Stocks to Buy According to Brad Gerstner to see the other tech stocks that are on hedge funds’ radar. While we acknowledge the potential of PDD 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 timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than PDD but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
