Will Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Demonstrate Resilience in a Challenging Environment?

Mar Vista Investment Partners, LLC, an investment management company, released the “Mar Vista Focus strategy” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The S&P 500 index had the best first-quarter performance since 2019—enthusiasm over AI, robust corporate earnings, and anticipation of rate cuts fueling the rise in stock prices. The strategy returned +5.53% net-of-fees in the first quarter compared to +11.41% and +10.56% returns of the Russell 1000 Growth Index and the S&P 500 indexes. Kindly check the top 5 stocks of the strategy to know its best picks in 2024.

Mar Vista Focus strategy highlighted stocks like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a multinational software company that develops and supports software, services, devices, and solutions. The one-month return of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was 4.05%, and its shares gained 29.28% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 14, 2024, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock closed at $442.57 per share with a market capitalization of $3.289 trillion.

Mar Vista Focus strategy stated the following regarding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

"Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) continues to occupy a strong position, poised to capture market share as businesses navigate the transition to a digital-first landscape and embrace generative AI-driven solutions. The company’s commanding presence in the enterprise arena, combined with its comprehensive product portfolio encompassing Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), establishes it as a crucial provider of IT solutions for companies of all sizes.

Microsoft is effectively executing its strategy in a sizable market by offering a roadmap for digital transformation and adoption of AI-driven solutions, such as ChatGPT, while enhancing productivity and reducing costs. Consequently, we anticipate that Microsoft's solutions should exhibit resilience even in a more challenging macroeconomic environment, supporting low double-digit growth in intrinsic value within our investment horizon."

Is it Too Late to Buy Microsoft Stock?

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Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is in second position on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 293 hedge fund portfolios held Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) at the end of the first quarter which was 302 in the previous quarter. It was a record quarter for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), driven by continued strength in the Microsoft Cloud. The company reported $61.9 billion in revenues, up 17% year over year. While we acknowledge the potential of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) 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.

In another article, we discussed Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and shared the list of best AI PC stocks to buy. Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Fund continued to add Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to its portfolio in the first quarter.  In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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