NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) is officially falling out of favour with billionaires. In the last 12 months, it has been sold by some of its biggest supporters, including:
- Stanley Druckenmiller.
- Ken Griffin.
- Steven Cohen.
- Phillippe Laffont.
It’s not hard to see why these and other top investors sold their NVDA shares. Although the company is a monopoly in the world’s hottest industry – generative artificial intelligence (AI) – it is also extremely expensive, trading at 55 times earnings and 30 times sales. U.S. tech stocks in general are pricey, but NVDA is really something else.
The question is, where are billionaires putting their money now, if not NVIDIA? While not quite as expensive as NVIDIA, most of the U.S. tech companies are pricey. Additionally, non-tech U.S. sectors usually trade at premiums to their international peers. As you might expect given these facts, the “smart money” is largely going to non-U.S. countries, such as China, Japan, and yes – even Canada. In this article, I will explore one Canadian stock that has seen increased billionaire buying in the last year.
Shopify
Shopify Inc (TSX:SHOP) is a Canadian stock that is widely owned by billionaires and multi-millionaires. These include:
- Ron Baron.
- Tobias Lutke (the company’s founder)
- Cathie Wood.
- Stan Moss.
What billionaires like about Shopify
Shopify has many things going for it that tech investors like. These include:
- High growth, with revenue up 21% and free cash flow up 243% year over year in the most recent quarter.
- Many big-name stores, such as the brand store of makeup influencer Jeffree Star.
- A charismatic CEO with a large social media following.
- A strong brand identity.
These advantages are considerable. The most important of them would have to be the “large celebrity stores” thing. These stores are big, and the bigger they get, the more revenue they pay out to Shopify. So Shopify gets some growth from their success without having to pay for it in marketing expenses.
Why I’m personally not convinced
Although many big name investors, including some billionaires, are buying SHOP stock, I’m not the biggest fan of it. In fact, I personally would rather buy NVDA stock than SHOP stock at today’s prices (though I’m not interested in either). The reasons for this include:
- Shopify’s steep valuation. At 74.4 times earnings, SHOP is arguably more expensive than NVIDIA.
- Underwhelming growth. Shopify’s 21% revenue growth might seem high, and the 243% free cash flow growth is in fact high, but remember that this stock is at 74.4 times earnings. It takes a lot of sustained growth to justify such a multiple, and it’s not clear that Shopify can keep up the growth it’s doing now.
- Chinese competition. Apps like AliExpress and TEMU are giving Western e-commerce companies a run for their money. Offering cheap products and wide selections, they have a certain magic that has attracted a subset of North America’s consumer base.
Neither of the factors listed above is in itself a fatal blow to Shopify. Collectively, however, they imply that the company is not the most interesting in today’s equity market.
Foolish takeaway
Billionaires are selling NVIDIA, and some of them are buying Shopify. That’s an interesting fact. However, for my money, it does not make Shopify a buy. I’d personally rather hold NVDA.
