Hardman Johnston Global Advisors, an investment management company, released its “Hardman Johnston Global Equity” third quarter 2024, investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The portfolio slightly underperformed its benchmark index in the third quarter following a robust first half of the year. Performance was impacted by volatility, especially towards the end of the quarter. The strategy returned 4.50%, net of fees, in the quarter, compared to 6.61% for the MSCI AC World Net Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Hardman Johnston Global Equity highlighted stocks like ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is an advanced semiconductor equipment systems manufacturer for chipmakers. The one-month return of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) was 7.04%, and its shares lost 4.74% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On December 18, 2024, ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) stock closed at $719.49 per share with a market capitalization of $290.858 billion.
Hardman Johnston Global Equity stated the following regarding ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“The top sector detractors from relative performance during the quarter were Information Technology and Financials. Within Information Technology, ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) and Atlassian Corp. were the top underperformers. There are several risks that have skewed sentiment negatively during the quarter for the semiconductor capital equipment maker, ASML. Intel announced a capex cut which weighed on the entire leading-edge semiconductor capital equipment landscape. There are also persistent concerns that the strength in procurement from China will reverse, from either a digestion of existing capacity or greater restrictions imposed by the US government. Additionally, there are concerns that outside of the strength in Artificial Intelligence (AI), broader semiconductor demand is weak and could potentially delay the recovery in equipment demand for memory suppliers and mature node manufacturing. However, none of these risks change the strength of the long-term structural position of ASML in the semiconductor manufacturing value chain. We believe that the risks that pressured the stock during the third quarter should not outweigh the significant demand for leading edge semiconductors that ASML will benefit from, particularly as Taiwan Semiconductor ramps its 2nm node in late-2025.”
A technician in a clean room working on a semiconductor device, illuminated by the machines.
ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 64 hedge fund portfolios held ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) at the end of the third quarter which was 81 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) 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 ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) and shared the list of best semiconductor equipment stocks to buy. Polen International Growth Strategy added ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in Q3 2024 anticipating strong business growth in 2025 and beyond. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 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.