Is Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) the Top Growth Stock in David Tepper’s Portfolio?

We recently published a list of Top 10 Growth Stocks in David Tepper’s Portfolio. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) stands against other top growth stocks in David Tepper’s Portfolio.

Buy “everything” related to China has been David Tepper’s investment theme despite the uncertainties about the economy amid a trade spat with the US. The president and founder of Appaloosa Management LP believes China’s economy is well-positioned to bounce back from the COVID-19-triggered slowdown.

“Everything. ETFs, I would do futures — everything. Everything,” Tepper said during an interview on CNBC when asked about which Chinese equities.

Consequently, Appaloosa Management LP’s portfolio has built significant exposure to Chinese equities, with the biggest holding offering exposure to the country’s internet landscape. The investment strategy is increasingly paying off as Chinese stocks have enjoyed a bull run in response to Beijing unveiling a sweep of measures aimed at boosting economic growth.

With 5.4% growth in the fourth quarter of 2024, China’s economy exceeded expectations thanks to Beijing’s stimulus policies, which included interest rate reductions. Investors are awaiting information on further fiscal assistance for the struggling real estate sector and consumer demand.

Increased focus on Chinese equities affirms Tepper’s philosophy, which often revolves around contrarian views on the market. His focus on Chinese equities comes amid growing concerns that they would be hit hard as the US imposes significant trade tariffs on China in a bid to trim the trade deficit between the two economic powerhouses.

Amid the concerns, the founder of Appaloosa Management LP insists on the need to deploy significant risk management to offset the impacts of the ongoing trade war. Similarly, Tepper has already emphasized the need to stay invested in bull markets, which appear and remain calm during market downturns, as the one in play in the US.

US equities have been under immense pressure in the first quarter of 2025, which is attributed to uncertainties about US trade wars and the reluctance of the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. The S&P 500 has already shed nearly 3% in value and is on course to record its first quarterly decline since July of 2023.

The selloff in the US equity markets also comes at the backdrop of disappointing financial results from some companies that have been reported. Market participants have also not been impressed by the guidance that signals potential weakness across the board amid deteriorating macroeconomics.

“You know there’s this negative bias out there. You just don’t know to what degree,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Stamford, Connecticut.

Analysts are becoming increasingly wary regarding US corporate profits for the first quarter of this year, as policies from the Trump administration pose a risk of igniting a global trade conflict that could hinder economic expansion. Predictions for the S&P 500’s performance in the first quarter of 2025 have decreased by 4.5 percentage points, marking the most significant downward adjustment since the last quarter of 2023, according to his remarks.

Earnings growth for S&P 500 firms is now projected to be 7.7% compared to the previous year, which would represent the lowest rate since the third quarter of 2023 and a substantial drop from 17.1% in the final quarter of 2024, according to data from LSEG released on Friday.

“A lot of people are worried about things like tariffs … Really, it’s a broad economic slowdown that is the one thing that would be very difficult for companies to contend with,” said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

We combed Appaloosa Management LP’s SEC Q4 2024 13F filings to identify the top 10 growth stocks in Appaloosa Management LP’s portfolio. From the resultant data, we settled on the top 10 picks and analyzed them on why they stand out as growth picks. Finally, we ranked the stocks in ascending order based on the value of Appaloosa Management LP’s equity stakes while also detailing hedge fund sentiment around the stocks, as of Q4 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Is Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) the Top Growth Stock in David Tepper’s Portfolio?

A user’s hands typing a search query into a Google Search box, emphasizing the company’s search capabilities.

Appaloosa Management LP’s Equity Stakes: $358.40 Million

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 234

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is a technology company that owns some of the most popular internet brands, including Google and YouTube. The internet giant also flexes its muscle in healthcare self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, and digital advertising. With over 90% market share, it is the dominant force in the search engine business from which it unlocks growth opportunities.

Artificial Intelligence presents a significant opportunity as the Google search engine leverages the technology to boost advertising campaigns and search results. Since advertisements account for almost three-quarters of Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) revenue, it is imperative that it maintains its leadership position in this area.

In addition to pursuing growth around the search business, cloud offerings have emerged as key growth drivers. Revenues in the cloud unit were up by 30% year over year in Q4 2024, which helped bolster the bottom line. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) also announced plans to pay $32 billion to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz. The acquisition will give Google Cloud another edge over its rivals by providing excellent cloud detection and response (CDR) security. The acquisition would provide Alphabet with a fresh growth opportunity and significantly increase its services.

Overall, GOOGL ranks 4th on our list of top growth stocks in David Tepper’s Portfolio. While we acknowledge the potential of GOOGL 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 time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GOOGL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.

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