Japanese Billionaire Masayoshi Son’s Investments: Top 10 Stock Picks

In this piece, we will take a look at Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s Investments: Top 10 Stock Picks. If you want to skip Mr. Son’s background and take a look at the top 5 stocks in this list, then head on to Japanese Billionaire Masayoshi Son’s Investments: Top 5 Stock Picks.

Masayoshi Son is a Japanese billionaire renowned for his interest in emerging technology companies. He is the chief executive officer of the Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group, which holds investment stakes in several high profile technology firms such as British semiconductor design house Arm Ltd., Chinese internet firm ByteDance and American ridesharing application platform Uber.

Mr. Son also invests through SB Management Limited, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Softbank. When compared to his Vision Fund, which has a portfolio of $100 billion, SB Management is relatively low profile and modest, since it has a portfolio of $975 million. The fund invests in emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, limits itself to publicly traded companies, and has a global presence. Some of the Vision Fund’s  investments include Uber and WeWork, both of which saw their share prices drop significantly after their initial public offerings, and the latter’s chief executive officer (CEO)’s resignation following a scandal.

Mr. Son’s top three picks for SB Management’s portfolio are Sema4 Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SMFR), AbCellera Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:ABCL), and Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB). Cumulatively, the three companies represent roughly half of 48% of SB Management’s portfolio.

It’s also important to note that Son’s fund sold its entire stakes in Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) in the third quarter.

In the second quarter, SB had a $5.6 billion stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), an $811 million stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM), and a $702 million stake in Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL).

Japanese Billionaire Masayoshi Son's Investments: Top 10 Stock Picks

Masayoshi Son of SB Management

Our Methodology

In order to understand Mr. Son’s investment strategy and its impact on SB Management’s investments, we sifted through the latter’s 13F filings for the third quarter to pick out its top ten investments. These companies were then analyzed by taking a look at their latest quarterly earnings, investor letters, analyst ratings, and other hedge fund holdings generated through Insider Monkey’s Q3 2021 survey of 867 funds. This enabled us to gain a holistic view of the companies’ situation.

Japanese Billionaire Masayoshi Son’s Investments: Top 10 Stock Picks

10. Arqit Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQQ)

SB Management’s holdings: $10 million

Percentage of SB Management’s Portfolio: 1.02%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 9

Arqit Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQQ) is a British quantum encryption technology provider that is headquartered in London. It allows customers to download software that securely encrypts their devices for communicating with each other.

Mr. Son’s SB Management held 500,000 Arqit Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQQ) shares by the end of Q3 2021. These were worth $10 million and represented 1.02% of the firm’s portfolio. During the same time period, 9 of 867 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had stakes in the company.

Arqit Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQQ) reported $12 million in net loss and -$1.13 in EPS for its quarter that ended on June 30, 2021.

While Son is buying Arqit Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQQ) , he sold major tech stocks like Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) in the third quarter.

9. Doma Holdings Inc. (NYSE:DOMA)

SB Management’s holdings: $19.7 million

Percentage of SB Management’s Portfolio: 2.02%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 16

Doma Holdings Inc. (NYSE:DOMA) is an American firm that provides digitization services to customers who engage in real estate transactions. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and was founded in 2016.

By the end of this year’s third quarter, Mr. Son’s SB Management held 2.6 million Doma Holdings Inc. (NYSE:DOMA) shares in a stake worth $19.7 million and representing 2.02% of its portfolio. A survey of 867 hedge funds by Insider Monkey for Q3 2021 revealed that 16 had holdings in the company.

Doma Holdings Inc. (NYSE:DOMA) brought in $163 million in revenue and -$0.14 in GAAP EPS during its third quarter. In a September 2021 analyst note, Oppenheimer set an $11 share price target for the company arguing that Doma Holdings Inc. (NYSE:DOMA)  is set to gain from real estate payment digitization.

8. SomaLogic, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGC)

SB Management’s holdings: $27.2 million

Percentage of SB Management’s Portfolio: 2.79%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 37

SomaLogic, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGC) is a biotechnology firm headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. It offers clinical diagnostics and protein biomarker detection services.

Mr. Son’s SB Management held 2.2 million SomaLogic, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGC) shares as this year’s third quarter ended. They were worth $27.2 million and comprised 2.79% of the firm’s portfolio. Additionally, during Q3 2021, 37 of 867 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had holdings in the company.

SomaLogic, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLGC) reported $19.9 million in revenue and -$0.55 in GAAP EPS for its Q3. Cowen set an $18 price target for the company’s shares in a November 2021 investor note, highlighting that its technologies are well suited to overcome bottlenecks.

7. Elliott Opportunity II Corp. (NYSE:EOCW)

SB Management’s holdings: $48 million

Percentage of SB Management’s Portfolio: 4.94%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: N/A

Elliott Opportunity II Corp. (NYSE:EOCW) is a special purpose acquisition company created in 2021 and headquartered in Florida. It hopes to target a firm in the technology sector to allow the latter to easily access capital available in the stock market.

Mr. Son’s SB Management holds 4.9 million Elliott Opportunity II Corp. (NYSE:EOCW) shares that are worth $48 million and represent 4.94% of its portfolio as of the end of Q3 2021.

Elliott Opportunity II Corp. (NYSE:EOCW) has two chief executive officers and a market capitalization of $749 million. The firm is yet to decide on a target to acquire.

Elliott Opportunity II Corp. (NYSE:EOCW)’s largest shareholder after Mr. Son is Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group who owns 1.7 million shares worth $17.7 million.

6. FTAC Hera Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:HERA)

SB Management’s holdings: $48.7 million

Percentage of SB Management’s Portfolio: 4.98%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: N/A

FTAC Hera Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: HERA) is a special purpose acquisition company that offered its shares to the public in March 2021. It aims to acquire a company operating in the financial services, electronic commerce, and real estate sectors.

Mr. Son’s SB Management held 5 million FTAC Hera Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:HERA) shares worth $48.7 million and constituing 4.98% of its portfolio during this year’s third quarter.

FTAC Hera Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:HERA) has a market capitalization of $1 billion. Its largest shareholder is Israel Englander’s Millennium Management who owns 5.58 million shares worth $54 million.

Unlike Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL), FTAC Hera Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: HERA) is a stock Son is bullish on as of the third quarter.

To see the rest of the stocks in this list click to read Top 5 Stock Picks of Masayoshi Son.

Suggested Articles:

Disclosure. None. Japanese Billionaire Masayoshi Son’s Investments: Top 10 Stock Picks is originally published on Insider Monkey.