Is ASML Holding NV (ASML) Billionaire Cohen’s Top AI Semiconductor Pick?

Insider Monkey recently analyzed billionaire Steve Cohen’s latest portfolio to see some of his top AI stock picks.

Since ASML Holding NV (ASML) ranks 6th in our list of the 10 Best AI Stock Picks of Billionaire Steve Cohen, the stock deserves a detailed look.

Billionaire Steve Cohen is one of the few hedge fund managers who almost always dazzles with his outperformance and prescient bets. Cohen, who also owns The New York Mets, founded SAC Capital back in 1992, and since then through 2009 lost money only once. A Bloomberg report earlier this year said that Point72 Asset Management has been able to raise so much cash recently that it’s starting to decline external money. The fund has reportedly raised about about $12.8 billion since 2020.

Point72’s main fund returned about 11% in 2023, and 12% in the previous year.

Billionaire Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management runs a highly diversified portfolio. As of the end of the March quarter, the portfolio’s net worth was over $41.2 billion, with tech stocks accounting for 17% of the total portfolio.

Unlike long-term value investors like Warren Buffett and Seth Klarman, Cohen moves with speed and adapts quickly. He’s been like this for decades. When he was in Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he would often skip classes to watch stock movements at a local brokerage. He took pride in predicting stock movements based on their direction.

ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML)

Steve Cohen's Q1'2024 Stake: $250,626,789

Billionaire Steve Cohen's Point72 Asset Management upped its stake in ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML) by 14% in the March quarter, concluding the period with a $251 million stake. ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML) has a near monopoly in the semiconductor industry as it machines used by chip manufacturers use to make physical chips.

ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML) supplies ultraviolet lithography photolithography machines used to manufacture  advanced 3nm and 5nm chips. Jim Kelleher of Argus has set a $1,000 price target on the stock. Over the past one year ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML) shares have gained about 35%.

Polen International Growth Strategy stated the following regarding ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:

“Netherlands-based ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) and Japan-based Lasertec play dominant roles within different segments of the global semiconductor industry. In both cases, shares rallied significantly in the fourth quarter of 2023, prompting our positions to grow as a percentage of the overall portfolio. We believe both companies will see demand for their products as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and soon high-numerical aperture lithography must be utilized to manufacture the world’s smallest chips. However, in our estimation, 2024 could deliver a year of less exciting growth for the semiconductor industry, which prompted us to trim these positions back.”

     

ASML Holding NV (ASML) ranks 6th in the list of the 10 Best AI Stock Picks of Billionaire Steve Cohen.

Click to see the complete list of 10 Best AI Stock Picks of Billionaire Steve Cohen.

 

If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as Microsoft 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. Is ASML Holding NV (ASML) Billionaire Cohen's Top AI Semiconductor Pick?  was originally published on Insider Monkey