We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Growth Stocks To Buy According To George Soros. In this article, we will look at where AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) ranks among the 10 best growth stocks to buy according to George Soros.
The Man Who Broke the Bank of England
George Soros, the owner of Soros Fund Management, is known as one of the most controversial investors in the history of investing. The now 94-year-old, “broke the Bank of England” after he reportedly made $1 billion from shorting the British pound in 1992. As of September 19, Soros has a net worth of $7.2 billion. He managed client money in New York from 1969 to 2011.
Soros Fund Management was founded in 1970 and manages almost $28 billion in net assets at the moment. The fund is the principal asset manager for Soros’ philanthropic venture, the Open Society Foundations (OSF). So far he has given away more than $32 billion of his fortune to the OSF. Last year, Soros handed over the fund to his eldest son, Alexander Soros, who now aims to take his philanthropic endeavors to another level.
George Soros’ Investment Philosophy
Soros is known for being ahead of the market. Historically, he has made financial decisions after gauging market feedback and predicting market activities, that have returned or saved him millions, if not billions. This is what he calls the “reflexivity” theory. By applying this theory to finance and investments, Soros values assets based on market feedback, predicts market bubbles, and exploits market opportunities. A recent example of this was when Soros pulled out a staggering $73 million from two major technology players right before the tech downturn in mid-July.
Soros also uses another method, which he calls the Soros’ Method, to forecast events in the financial markets using current data. He then tests his theories on small investments and if the theory seems to be working out, he expands his position or size of his investment. This, however, does not mean that Soros has never failed or encountered risk during his time as an investor. He has made multiple expensive decisions from which he learned lessons and has even quoted them in his books. Here is an excerpt of what he said in his book, Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve:
“The prevailing wisdom is that markets are always right. I take the opposition position. I assume that markets are always wrong. Even if my assumption is occasionally wrong, I use it as a working hypothesis. It does not follow that one should always go against the prevailing trend. On the contrary, most of the time the trend prevails; only occasionally are the errors corrected. It is only on those occasions that one should go against the trend. This line of reasoning leads me to look for the flaw in every investment thesis. … I am ahead of the curve. I watch out for telltale signs that a trend may be exhausted. Then I disengage from the herd and look for a different investment thesis. Or, if I think the trend has been carried to excess, I may probe going against it. Most of the time we are punished if we go against the trend. Only at an inflection point are we rewarded.”
One can say that Soros’ degree in philosophy helped him carve his way into the financial markets. Now that we have studied Soros’ investment philosophy, let’s take a look at the 10 best growth stocks according to George Soros.
Our Methodology
To come up with the 10 best growth stocks according to George Soros, we examined his 13F portfolio and selected his top 10 growth stock picks, as of Q2 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).
AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)
Soros Fund Management Stake Value: $191.20 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 49
AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) ranks first on our list of the best growth stocks by George Soros, accounting for 3.43% of his portfolio. Soros increased his position in the stock by 513% from the previous quarter. AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
In the second quarter of 2024, the company logged $25.62 billion in revenue, up by 18%. Of this, product revenue was $24.6 billion, accounting for 96% of total sales. For the fiscal year 2024, AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) expects revenue to grow by mid-teen percent.
In the first half of 2024, the company spent $799 million in capital expenditures and expects total capex for 2024 to increase by 50% due to increasing capacity and capabilities. After garnering tremendous attention for its COVID-19 vaccine, the company is now racing to find a cure for cancer. Its oncology department is currently focusing on six scientific platforms to find a treatment for cancer with the lowest mortality rate.
AZN’s focus on giving back to society explains why 49 hedge funds were bullish on the stock at the end of Q2 2024 with total stakes amounting to $2.33 billion. Based on ratings from 30 analysts, the stock’s price target represents an upside of 16% from its current level.
Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2024 investor letter where it talked about AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN):
“Performance in pharmaceuticals and health care distributors was bolstered by solid gains from AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) and McKesson Corporation, respectively. AstraZeneca is a global biopharmaceutical company with a focus on three main therapy areas based on its core competencies: oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and respiratory illnesses. AstraZeneca’s shares increased given incremental positive news flow (LAURA, ADRIATIC, and DESTINY-Breast06 clinical trials) surrounding the oncology franchise. The company also published long-term guidance for the first time, projecting $80 billion in revenue by 2030, or 75% higher than 2023’s $45.8 billion. This projection implies an annual growth rate of 8% over seven years, compared with the 5% to 7% targets set by GSK and Johnson & Johnson and the 5% target set by Novartis.”
Overall AZN ranks 1st on our list of the best growth stocks to buy according to George Soros. While we acknowledge the potential of AZN 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 AZN 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 was originally published on Insider Monkey.