Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Global Fund” third-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Despite significant volatility, global markets reported gains in the third quarter. The Ariel Global fund appreciated +6.94% in the quarter outperforming the +6.61% return of its primary benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Index, and trailing the +9.42% return of its secondary benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Value Index. Ariel follows a non-consensus approach to identify undervalued, out-of-favor franchises that are misunderstood and mispriced. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.

Ariel Global Fund highlighted stocks like Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) in the Q3 2024 investor letter. Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) is a pharmaceutical company that engages in the research, production, and distribution of therapeutic solutions. The one-month return of Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) was -9.25%, and its shares gained 3.31% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 19, 2024, Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) stock closed at $48.00 per share with a market capitalization of $120.779 billion.

Ariel Global Fund stated the following regarding Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

"French pharmaceutical company, Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) was another contributor over the quarter as momentum for Dupixent, a dermatitis treatment, drove earnings. Additionally, positive clinical trials for myeloma drug, Sarclisa and a Phase 3 Multiple Sclerosis asset also boosted shares. At current levels, we view Sanofi’s vaccines business as underappreciated and think the immunology pipeline is being overlooked. Also, we continue to be optimistic Dupixent will be a key growth driver."

Dozens of pharmaceutical capsules piled on top of one another to show the scale of the company's drug contributions to the industry.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 32 hedge fund portfolios held Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) at the end of the third quarter which was 28 in the previous quarter. With sales of EUR13.4 billion, Sanofi's (NASDAQ:SNY) the top line grew by 15.7% in Q3 at constant exchange rates. While we acknowledge the potential of Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) 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.