Columbia Threadneedle Investments, an investment management company released its “Columbia Threadneedle Global Technology Growth Strategy” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. presidential election in Q4 2024 boosted U.S. equity markets, resulting in a strong year and overall positive year for global equities. The S&P 500 Index returned 2.41% during the quarter, and the index returned 25.02% for 2024. In the quarter, the fund returned 6.14% compared to the S&P Global 1200 Information Technology Index-net’s 3.72% return. Security selection drove the fund’s performance relative to the benchmark. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings for its best picks for 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Columbia Threadneedle Global Technology Growth Strategy emphasized stocks such as Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), the parent company of Google, offers various platforms and services operating through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The one-month return of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was -10.83%, and its shares gained 20.78% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 10, 2025, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) stock closed at $167.81 per share with a market capitalization of $2.033 trillion.
Columbia Threadneedle Global Technology Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (parent company Alphabet) generated strong double-digit returns during the quarter, as the company’s tremendous innovation in AI, along with strength in its core business of search and advertising and a healthy focus on profit growth and shareholder friendly capital allocation, shifted investor focus away from ongoing litigation with the Department of Justice related to market dominance. In the month of December alone, Google released to the public Gemini 2.0, its most capable AI model yet, as well as new generative image and vision models. And if that was not enough, Google also announced progress in quantum computing. Once considered an AI laggard, the flurry of product announcements and AI development did not go unnoticed by the market and the stock reacted accordingly.”
A laptop and phone open to Google’s services in an everyday setting.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is in 7th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 174 hedge fund portfolios held Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 160 in the previous quarter. In 2024, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) achieved a revenue growth of 14% compared to 2023, reaching $350 billion. For the fourth quarter, the revenue was $96.5 billion, reflecting a 12% increase in both reported and constant currency. While we acknowledge the potential of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) 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.
