Many
stocks
have
seen
massive
rallies
this
year
as
investors
turned
bullish
on
sectors
like
Big
Tech,
biotech,
electric
vehicles,
and
weight
loss
drugs.
As
the
year-end
nears,
CNBC
Pro
asked
three
fund
managers
for
sectors
—
and
stocks
—
they
are
bullish
on
in
the
lead-up
to
2024.
Here
are
five
of
their
top
picks.
Nvidia
The
U.S.
chipmaking
giant
has
gotten
a
lot
of
love
from
investors
this
year,
with
shares
up
close
to
230%
year-to-date.
But
for
portfolio
manager
Karen
Kharmandarian,
it
remains
a
top
pick.
“Everybody
likes
or
mentions
the
stock,
but,
I
think
it
remains
an
attractive
investment
proposition
for
2024,”
the
senior
portfolio
manager
at
Thematics
Asset
Management
said.
Some
concerns
on
Nvidia
emerged
last
week
following
comments
from
its
chief
financial
officer
Colette
Kress
on
the
impact
of
the
export
restrictions
on
sales,
especially
to
China.
Its
stock
fell
on
the
news,
and
ended
last
week
down
2.12%.
The
chipmaker
has
been
feeling
the
pressure
after
the
U.S.
government
curbed
the
export
of
artificial
intelligence
chips
to
China
over
concerns
that
they
could
be
used
for
military
development
purposes.
This
restricts
the
export
of
Nvidia’s
A800
and
H800
chips,
among
others.
However,
analysts
continue
to
back
the
stock.
According
to
FactSet
data,
51
out
of
54
analysts
covering
Nvidia
have
a
buy
or
overweight
rating
on
the
stock
at
an
average
target
price
of
$667.43
–
giving
it
over
40%
upside
potential.
Snowflake
Elsewhere
in
the
tech
sector,
Kharmandarian
is
looking
favorably
at
cloud
computing
Snowflake
,
which
he
sees
as
having
“good
prospects
for
2024.”
The
stock
accounted
for
3.3%
of
his
AI
and
Robotics
Fund
as
of
Sept.
30.
Warren
Buffett
is
also
a
fan,
with
0.3%
of
the
Berkshire
Hathaway
portfolio
invested
in
the
stock.
Shares
in
Snowflake
rose
7.7%
on
Thursday
last
week
after
it
posted
third-quarter
adjusted
earnings
of
25
cents
per
share
on
revenue
of
$734
million,
surpassing
analysts’
expectations.
Year-to-date,
the
cloud
stock
is
trading
up
around
37%.
FactSet
data
shows
that
70%
of
the
43
analysts
covering
Snowflake
have
buy
or
overweight
ratings
on
the
stock.
BE
Semiconductor
Industries
Meanwhile,
Rahul
Ghosh,
equity
portfolio
specialist
at
T.
Rowe
Price,
is
bullish
on
the
semiconductor
sector
and
named
Dutch
company
BE
Semiconductor
Industries
as
a
favorite.
He
said
AI
remains
a
strong
theme
and
he’s
most
bullish
on
the
semiconductor
aspect
of
it.
“The
demand
is
very
strong
for
companies
like
BE
Semiconductor,”
he
Ghosh.
“AI
is
essentially
improving
productivity
so
much
that
the
development
of
more
large
language
models
and
the
eventual
application
software
is
going
to
require
significantly
more
intensity,
unlike
[in]
the
past
decade.”
He
said
that
packaging
solutions
companies
like
BE
Semiconductor
were
being
underappreciated
in
the
semiconductor
value
chain.
Year-to-date,
shares
in
the
company
are
up
over
120%.
Of
the
19
analysts
covering
the
stock,
nine
give
it
a
buy
or
overweight
rating
with
an
average
price
target
of
$120.88,
indicating
a
fall
of
around
7%
from
current
prices,
according
to
FactSet.
Danaher
Corp
In
the
healthcare
sector,
Ghosh
is
bullish
on
Danaher
.
Year-to-date
shares
in
the
biotechnology
and
life
sciences
equipment
manufacturer
are
down
nearly
4%,
but
Ghosh
remains
positive.
“People
just
underappreciate
the
scale
of
the
opportunity
with
Danaher,
I
think
you’re
getting
a
good
chance
to
enter
ahead
of
a
potentially
powerful
cycle
over
the
next
year
or
so,”
he
said.
Ghosh
sees
potential
for
the
company
–
like
others
in
the
space
–
to
gain
from
the
renewal
of
the
order
cycle
for
its
equipment
for
drug
development,
genomic
research,
now
that
the
inventory
built
during
the
pandemic
is
close
to
normalization.
“You
look
at
names
like
Danaher
which
are
high-quality
names.
They
are
relatively
oligopolistic
companies
that
have
very
specialized
equipment,”
he
said.
As
such,
he
said
the
company
could
become
a
go-to
testing
provider
for
companies
ranging
from
drug
manufacturers
and
life
sciences
research,
looking
for
“an
approved
manufacturer.”
The
stock
is
down
15%
year-to-date.
FactSet
data
shows
that
77%
of
analysts
covering
the
company
have
a
buy
or
overweight
rating
on
the
stock,
with
an
average
price
target
indicating
around
4.5%
upside.
Schneider
Electric
Elsewhere,
French
energy
management
company
Schneider
Electric
is
on
the
radar
of
Steven
Glass,
managing
director
and
investment
analyst
at
Pella
Funds.
“We’re
very
bullish,
although
it’s
not
as
cheap
as
it
used
to
be
on
Schneider
Electric.
[It]
is
a
triple-A-rated
stock
that’s
got
excellent
ESG.
It’s
wonderfully
managed.
It’s
an
excellent
business.
And
it’s
got
huge
exposure
to
this
electrification
theme,”
he
said.
Glass
also
sees
it
as
a
good
company
to
get
exposure
to
the
growing
electric
vehicle
sector,
with
Schneider
offering
various
EV
charging
systems.
Other
merits
include
its
strong
bargaining
power
as
a
result
of
having
“thousands
of
products”
where
“no
one
product
accounts
for
[more
than]
2%
of
its
revenue,”
Glass
said.
“So,
it
doesn’t
depend
on
any
one
customer.”
Year-to-date,
shares
in
Schneider
Electric
are
up
around
28%.
Just
over
60%
of
analysts
covering
the
stock
give
it
a
buy
or
overweight
rating.
