Last year and this year saw record numbers of institutional and retail investors pile into Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA). The company’s stock value has increased, along with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).
Nvidia makes graphic chips used to train and operate AI applications. As a result, companies experimenting with AI applications are buying Nvidia products, causing its stock to climb.
But not everyone is enthused with Nvidia, including billionaires. That’s certainly true for legendary investor Warren Buffet, who famously said not to buy what you don’t understand.
So, let’s see which stocks billionaires are betting on instead of Nvidia. You just might walk away with insights into what stocks to buy for your portfolio.
Amazon (AMZN)
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock is a strong investor favorite and one of the solid stocks to buy.
It sure is for billionaire Steven Cohen, who slashed his investment company Point72’s Nvidia position by 55% this quarter but maintained Amazon as the company’s largest stock allocation at $680 million.
The tech and e-commerce business has forayed into several industries, including e-commerce, cloud computing, entertainment, publishing and AI. That has made it one of the most successful companies and earned it a place in the Magnificent Seven.
The company’s 2024 Q1 results had a strong showing across all key metrics. It included a net income of $10.4 billion against $3.2 billion last year. Its earnings per share also grew to $0.98 from $0.31 a year ago.
Moreover, Amazon shares are in focus after Reuters reported the company is in talks to pump billions of euros into data centers in Italy in its latest push to expand its cloud presence in Europe.
Chevron (CVX)
Billionaire Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A, NYSE:BRK-B) has a $332 billion stock portfolio spread out across 41 stocks, and Nvidia isn’t one of them.
The holding company’s top five holdings include Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL): 41%, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC): 12%, American Express (NYSE:AXP): 10%, Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO): 7.4% and Chevron (NYSE:CVX): 5.8% — per Q1’s 13F filing. Chevron’s position is worth over $19 billion.
The oil and gas company is noteworthy because Berkshire Hathaway significantly upped its stake in Q4 last year.
Chevron shares are expected to rise if it buys out Hess Corp (NYSE:HES) in a $53 billion merger proposal. The deal is currently on ice due to a dispute with ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), a Hess partner.
Despite that particular wrinkle, analysts are bullish on Chevron — and it’s a promising stock to buy. At the time of writing, CVX has 12 buy ratings on the Wall Street Journal, with a price target of $183.99. Shares are currently trading in the ballpark of $162 apiece.
All signs have been pointing to trouble for CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI), but that hasn’t stopped billionaire Carl Icahn from allocating close to 20% of his portfolio to its shares.
The Sugar Land, Texas-based oil refining company’s financials for Q1 2024 paint the picture of hard times for the company for the past year.
For instance, it netted only $90 million this quarter compared to $259 million for the same period last year. Its adjusted earnings were 4 cents per diluted share against earnings of $1.44 for the first quarter of last year.
Icahn first bought CVR stock in 2012. He’s known for his investment activism, where he buys big stakes in companies and then pushes for changes in their structure to boost the stock price. The so-called “Icahn lift” is a phenomenon in which companies’ stock tends to increase in value after Icahn buys into them.
CVR’s fundamentals are shaky at the moment, but if Icahn’s massive position in the company means anything to you, CVR might be an okay stock to buy.
On the date of publication, Hope Mutie did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the stocks mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to InvestorPlace.com’s Publishing Guidelines.