Appalaches Capital, an investment management company, has released its investor letter for the third quarter of 2024. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Appalache’s Core LO ended the quarter up 3.0% after all fees and expenses compared to the S&P 500 return of 5.9%, the equal-weighted S&P 500 return of 9.6% and the return of the SOFR Index of 1.4%. The fund has delivered a net return of 7.1% year-to-date. During the quarter, the company made several changes to the portfolio, with approximately two-thirds now allocated to risk assets, more consistent with a normalized allocation, and plans to invest idle cash as opportunities arise in companies with strong competitive positions. The company’s goal is to buy stocks at a discount to their intrinsic value, but this has proven more difficult over the past year. Also, please check out the fund’s top five holdings to know the best picks in 2024.

Appalaches Capital highlighted stocks like Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its third-quarter 2024 investor letter. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), the parent company of Google, offers various platforms and services operated through the Google Services, Google Cloud and Other Bets segments. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s one-month return was 1.44%, and its shares have gained 32.53% of their value over the past 52 weeks. On November 29, 2024, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) stock closed at $170.49 per share with a market cap of $2.11 trillion.

Appalaches Capital stated the following about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) in its third quarter 2024 investor letter:

“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has also quickly lost appeal among investors as many worry about the possibility of diminishing returns from ongoing capital expenditures. That’s a valid concern and one I’ve taken very seriously, but the business is still far from expensive and returns on the additional capital have remained stable so far. Potential antitrust lawsuits have also weighed on the stock recently, although a deal exit could actually be a positive outcome for investors as overall value is realized.”

A laptop and a phone that can access Google services in everyday life.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is ranked No. 7 on our list of the 31 most popular stocks among hedge funds. According to our database, 160 hedge fund portfolios held Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) at the end of the third quarter, up from 165 the previous quarter. While we recognize Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)’s potential as an investment, we believe that AI stocks are more promising to deliver higher returns, within a shorter time frame. If you’re looking for an AI stock that has the same promise as NVIDIA but costs less than five times its earnings, check out our report on it cheapest AI stock.

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