Billionaires’ Stock Picks: A Guide for the Perplexed Investor

Investors, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that billionaires-those peculiar human beings who have somehow managed to accumulate vast quantities of money-must surely possess some secret knowledge about the universe. (They don’t, of course. They just have better lawyers and a stronger belief in the power of caffeine.) Tracking which stocks billionaires buy is like trying to read tea leaves in a cosmic teapot, but it’s oddly satisfying. After all, if nothing else, it gives us something to talk about at dinner parties besides the weather or the existential dread of quantum physics.

Copying billionaire portfolios wholesale is, of course, as sensible as trying to build a spaceship in your garage using a recipe for shepherd’s pie. Their strategies are shaped by obligations most of us wouldn’t recognize if they bit us. But if you can extract a few crumbs of inspiration from their transactions-like a hungry magpie with a taste for financial trivia-you might just stumble upon something useful. (Or you might not. The universe is indifferent, as always.)

Billionaires, being creatures of both mystery and bureaucracy, reveal their holdings every quarter in 13F filings. These documents are less thrilling than the latest episode of *Doctor Who* but more legally binding. In the most recent quarter, three stocks caught the attention of billionaire investors: Amazon (AMZN), Restaurant Brands International (QSR), and Whirlpool (WHR). Let’s explore why these picks might make you feel slightly less lost in the financial cosmos.

1. Amazon: AI and the Art of Being Everything

Billionaires, it seems, have taken a liking to Amazon, a company that has somehow managed to become both a global e-commerce juggernaut and a cloud computing titan. (It’s like if a toaster learned to write sonnets and then started running a hedge fund.) The real magic lies in Amazon Web Services, its cloud division, which is now a full-fledged AI enterprise. If you think about it, AWS is the universe’s most efficient digital filing cabinet, except it also knows how to beat you at chess. Impressive.

Amazon’s growth is so relentless it makes a supernova look lazy. Second-quarter sales jumped 13%, with AWS alone growing by nearly 18%. E-commerce, fueled by panicked consumers stockpiling tariff-vulnerable goods, climbed 11%. And the advertising revenue? A blistering 23% increase. It’s as if the company has discovered a way to monetize the void itself.

Loading widget...

Profits? Amazon’s operating income now exceeds $19 billion per quarter, a figure so absurd it could make a mathematician weep. And yet, the stock trades at a P/E ratio of 34-less than half its five-year average. It’s the financial equivalent of finding a five-star restaurant in a shoebox. Billionaire Bill Ackman, ever the optimist, added $1.2 billion worth of shares, while Warren Buffett, the investing equivalent of a grumpy but wise grandfather, also keeps a stake. It’s a stock that defies logic, much like the universe itself.

2. Restaurant Brands: Franchises, Fries, and Financial Fortitude

Restaurant Brands International, the corporate alchemist that turned fast food into a cash machine, owns Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeye’s, and Firehouse Subs. (It’s like a theme park for people who enjoy deep-fried regret.) With over 32,000 locations, it’s a company that doesn’t cook its own food or manage its own restaurants-it just collects fees and smiles. It’s the financial equivalent of a passive-income dream, minus the passive part.

Loading widget...

In a world where consumers are increasingly picky about what they eat (and how much they pay), Restaurant Brands has managed to grow revenue by 16% year-over-year. Its total restaurant sales climbed 5.3%, a figure that would make a statistician blush. Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, a man who once bet against the entire U.S. economy and won, added $41 million in shares this quarter. Bill Ackman, never one to miss a chance to look clever, has held a stake since 2012. And if you’re looking for a dividend, the stock throws one out like a cosmic coupon: 3.8%. It’s the financial equivalent of getting a free soda with your burger. (Though, honestly, you’re still paying for the soda.)

3. Whirlpool: The American Dream, Minus the Dream

Whirlpool, the company that makes appliances for people who can’t afford to build their own, is a curious case. Its fortunes are tied to the housing market, which is currently being battered by interest rates that make a mortgage feel like a life sentence. Yet, here we are: billionaires are buying shares. It’s the financial equivalent of buying a life raft during a hurricane. (Why? Because someone has to sell it.)

Loading widget...

Whirlpool’s shares trade at a forward P/E of 11, a price so low it could make a bargain-hunter weep. Billionaire David Tepper, a man who once made a fortune by betting on the collapse of the U.S. housing market, added $27 million in shares this quarter. The company also benefits from tariffs, a policy so economically nonsensical it could make a Nobel laureate question their life choices. While Whirlpool is currently cutting its dividend in half to conserve cash, it’s also preparing for a future where homebuilders start buying appliances again. It’s the financial equivalent of betting on the sun to rise tomorrow-even if the clouds look particularly ominous.

In the grand cosmic lottery of investing, these stocks are just three more tickets. Billionaires may have their reasons, but the universe remains indifferent. (As it always has.) The real question is whether you’ll be the one left holding the winning ticket-or the one who bet on the wrong color at the roulette wheel of fate. 🚀

Read More

2025-08-30 17:32