Parnassus Investments, an investment management company, released the “Parnassus Core Equity Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. U.S equities rose in the third quarter and the Fund (Investor Shares) appreciated 5.50% (net of fees) in the quarter underperforming the S&P 500 Index’s 5.89% return. The favorable stock selection in the Materials and Financials sector contributed to the fund’s performance in the quarter while stock selection in the Information Technology and Industrials sectors detracted. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Parnassus Core Equity Fund highlighted stocks like Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) offers manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The one-month return of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) was -8.19%, and its shares gained 17.89% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 25, 2024, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) stock closed at $174.55 per share with a market capitalization of $143.9 billion.
Parnassus Core Equity Fund stated the following regarding Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), the world’s largest supplier of wafer fabrication equipment for semiconductors, saw its shares pressured by negative sentiment around a potentially broad-based trend of capital expenditure cuts in memory spending.”
A technician in a clean room assembling a semiconductor chip using a microscope.
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 74 hedge fund portfolios held Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) at the end of the third quarter which was 77 in the previous quarter. In the fiscal year 2024, Applied Materials, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMAT) net sales were $27.2 billion, up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. While we acknowledge the potential of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) 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 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) and shared the list of AI news stories shaking up Wall Street. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.