So here’s a fun holiday experiment: Business Insider asked 10 professional investors what single stock they’d stuff in someone’s Christmas stocking. You know, because nothing says “Merry Christmas” quite like unsolicited investment advice from your financially savvy relatives.
The results? Well, let’s just say Google’s parent company Alphabet got more love than a golden retriever at a dog park. Three separate pros picked GOOGL as their gift-worthy stock, making it the clear crowd favorite.
The Google Fan Club
Ross Gerber from Gerber Kawasaki thinks Alphabet is basically the Swiss Army knife of tech stocks. His reasoning? Google’s got its fingers in every pie imaginable, plus it’s his firm’s biggest holding. He’s particularly bullish on their self-driving car prospects, which apparently gives them an edge over Tesla (shots fired, Elon).
Daniel Newman from Futurum Group loves the “significant upside with deep moats” combo. Translation: Google makes bank and has built walls so high around their business that competitors need a ladder just to peek over.
Michael Ashley Schulman got poetic, calling Alphabet “part megacorp, part mad scientist, and somehow, still your homepage.” He’s not wrong – they’re running everything from YouTube to Android to whatever weird AI experiments are happening in their labs.
The Other Contenders
Of course, not everyone jumped on the Google bandwagon. Louis Navellier went with the obvious choice: Nvidia. His take? “It’s a monopoly and safe till at least the end of the decade.” Bold words, but when you’re basically the only game in town for AI chips, confidence comes easy.
Then there’s the contrarian picks that make you go “huh, interesting.” Eric Clark chose Warby Parker because apparently we’re all going blind from staring at screens (relatable). His logic: more device time equals more glasses needed. Plus, they’re working with Google on smart eyewear, so there’s that Google connection again.
Darius Dale went full precious metals mode with a gold ETF, because sometimes you just want to own shiny things that have held value since ancient civilizations figured out economics.
The Dark Horse
Alexander Wah picked Legence, a under-the-radar tech stock that’s up 59% this year. They do specialized plumbing for data centers, which sounds boring until you realize someone has to keep all those AI servers from melting.
The Bottom Line
While these pros clearly have their favorites, the real winner here might be diversification. Or just buying an index fund and calling it a day. But where’s the fun in that?
The fact that Alphabet dominated the picks says something about where smart money sees opportunity. When multiple pros independently choose the same stock, it’s either brilliant consensus or spectacular groupthink. Time will tell which one it is.
Either way, if you’re looking for last-minute gift ideas, maybe skip the stock certificates and go with something safer. Like socks. Everyone needs socks.