Asset manager says one FAANG stock looks ‘very attractive’ in the medium term

One Big Tech stock looks “very attractive” in the medium term, according to Neil Veitch, investment director at SVM Asset Management. That’s Alphabet , a firm he says is his favorite of the FAANG stocks — a grouping which includes Facebook-parent Meta , Amazon , Apple , Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet . “[Alphabet has] all the benefits of distribution, digital distribution, very little marginal costs associated with revenues with very strong market positions. Rock solid balance sheets,” he told CNBC Pro Talks on Thursday. Veitch said that, despite being a “bit more conservative around Meta,” he broadly likes FAANG stocks. That goes against the market trend: tech has tumbled this year, as the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked rates and investors shied away from growth stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down about 30% year-to-date. Alphabet has largely tracked those losses, tumbling around 31% in the same period. The firm reported weaker-than-expected earnings and revenue for the second quarter. Revenue growth slowed to 13% from 62% a year earlier, when the company was benefiting from the post-pandemic reopening and consumer spending was on the rise. However, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in early September said he wants to make the company 20% more efficient . That could include headcount cuts, as the firm faces a slew of economic challenges and deals with years of rapid hiring. More broadly, Veitch said he would be cautious on expensive growth stocks, especially those with very high multiples that are “looking vulnerable in new regime characterized by higher inflation of last 10 years.” He gave Tesla as an example of a stock that looks expensive right now, arguing that the risk-reward is unattractive. However, he did admit he’s been “horribly wrong” on the electric vehicle giant in the past.