Mar Vista Investment Partners, LLC, an investment management company, released the “Mar Vista Focus strategy” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the strategy returned +3.74% net of fees compared to +8.34% and +4.28% returns for The Russell 1000 Growth Index and the S&P 500 Index. The strategy’s performance was negatively impacted by the stock selection within the information technology, communication services, and consumer discretionary. Following a robust performance in the first six months, it appears that stocks are poised to enter the second half of the year with strong momentum. The picture is still favorable because of robust corporate profitability, decreasing inflation, and high enterprise spending. Kindly check the top 5 stocks of the strategy to know its best picks in 2024.
Mar Vista Focus strategy highlighted stocks like Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q2 2024 investor letter. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), the parent company of Google, offers various platforms and services operating through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The one-month return of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was -2.29%, and its shares gained 23.94% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 26, 2024, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) stock closed at $167.93 per share with a market capitalization of $2.048 trillion.
Mar Vista Focus strategy stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) reported robust quarterly financials, demonstrating accelerated revenue growth and improved margins from restructuring efforts. The company’s core advertising business is rebounding after a challenging 2022-2023 period, when advertisers curtailed spending due to economic concerns. While this quarter’s exceptional growth rate may not persist, Alphabet’s performance indicates it is likely to exceed our annual projections.
Following Meta’s lead, Alphabet is adopting a more stringent approach to expenses. The company continues to reduce headcount and consolidate teams, aiming to counterbalance the impact of infrastructure investments on profitability. Alphabet’s better-than-expected revenue and earnings underscore both the resilience of its core business and management’s early success in sustainably restructuring the cost base.
Notably, AI advancements are already showing promising results, enhancing consumer engagement, and improving advertiser performance. These developments position Alphabet favorably in an increasingly AI-driven digital landscape.”
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Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is in 7th position on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 165 hedge fund portfolios held Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) at the end of the second quarter which was 165 in the previous quarter. In the first quarter, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) generated $80.5 billion in revenues, up 15% year-over-year (see the details here). While we acknowledge the potential of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) 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 as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we discussed Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and shared the list of trending AI stocks on latest analyst ratings and news. Pershing Square Holdings discussed Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) performance in its latest investor letter, highlighting the company’s strong financial results and rapid progress in AI development. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.