Baron Funds, an investment management firm, released its “Baron Global Advantage Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund was up 5.6% (institutional shares) in the third quarter compared to a 6.6% gain for the MSCI ACWI Index (the Index) and a 4.1% gain for the MSCI ACWI Growth Index, the Fund’s benchmark. In the third quarter, global equity indices rose, with several reaching new all-time highs. In addition, you can check the fund's top 5 holdings to find out its best picks for 2024.

Baron Global Advantage Fund highlighted stocks like Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) owns and operates retail business through an e-commerce platform. The one-month return of Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) was -2.30%, and its shares gained 63.90% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 7, 2024, Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) stock closed at $25.11 per share with a market capitalization of $45.169 billion.

Baron Global Advantage Fund stated the following regarding Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

"Shares of Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG), Korea’s largest e-commerce marketplace, appreciated 17.2% after second quarter results saw a solid EBITDA beat, driven by higher margins in its core Product Commerce segment (EBITDA of $530 million, up 30% year-on-year, and margins of 8.2%, up 110bps year-on-year). We believe the trend in margin expansion will continue as Coupang scales margin-accretive offerings, improves operations and supply chain, and leverages technology and automation to drive efficiencies. Its food delivery business has experienced strong growth with overall developing offerings revenues up 188% year-on-year in constant currency, with improving unit economics in the recent quarters. We view Coupang as one of the most competitively advantaged e-commerce businesses globally, with significant runway for both revenue and earnings growth."

A woman holding a laptop, wearing a graphic t-shirt, casually checking her e-commerce order.

Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 62 hedge fund portfolios held Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) at the end of the second quarter which was 66 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) 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.