Baron Durable Advantage Strategy

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) is the world's dominant designer of graphics processing units and AI accelerators, supplying the compute infrastructure for large language model training and inference, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and scientific simulation through its CUDA software ecosystem.
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) benefits as computing demand doubles every one to two years, driven by electrification, digitization, and advancements in AI, yet supply growth has decelerated due to the slowdown in Moore's law. Its accelerated computing architecture enables continued growth in computing capacity through parallelization. We are at the tipping point of a new era in computing, with NVIDIA at its epicenter as generative AI adoption grows. With leading market share in gaming, data centers, and autonomous machines, we think it is well positioned for long-term growth.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM) is the world’s largest dedicated chip foundry, producing leading-edge logic and advanced packaging for customers like NVIDIA, Apple, AMD, and Broadcom across AI accelerators, smartphones, PCs, and autos, with fabs in Taiwan, Japan, China, and Arizona.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM) is the dominant force in leading-edge foundry manufacturing, benefiting from economies of scale and a superior cost structure. Its track record of deploying new technology faster than competitors helps it maintain market share and pricing power, with gross margins above 60%. We believe AI accelerators and advanced packaging will drive mid-20% revenue growth through 2029, and its lead at N2 and A14 keeps customers locked in. Falling capital intensity should lift free cash flow and sustain roughly 30% returns on equity.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) is a global software and cloud company offering productivity and business applications such as Office, LinkedIn, and Dynamics; the Azure cloud platform and server products; and personal computing offerings including Windows, Surface devices, and Xbox gaming.
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) has, over the past decade, transformed itself by refocusing the business on cloud computing and AI. Microsoft Cloud now represents approximately 65% of revenue and grew 27% year over year in fiscal 2026. The company’s moat is built on the reach of its sales channel, diverse software platform, hybrid cloud capabilities, and the high costs of switching away from its mission-critical solutions. We believe Microsoft will benefit from growing cloud adoption for years to come.

Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) is the world's largest e-commerce marketplace and, through Amazon Web Services, the leading global cloud infrastructure provider, with additional businesses in digital advertising, subscription services, logistics, and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) has around 45% of U.S. online retail sales, while its share of global retail sales is less than 5%. Amazon has many avenues for revenue growth, including consumer staples, international expansion, grocery, digital media offerings, private label, pharmacy and health care services, advertising, and a better shopping experience powered by generative AI. Amazon also represents an opportunity to invest in the secular growth of cloud computing and the adoption of enterprise AI through AWS—a large, fast-growing, and margin-accretive part of the business. 

Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) is the world's leading digital advertising company, operating Google Search, YouTube, and the Google Network, alongside a fast-growing cloud computing business and investments in artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and other emerging technologies.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) should remain a major beneficiary of the shift in advertising from traditional media to online and mobile platforms. Its vast datasets improve products and support expansion into adjacent markets. Alphabet’s scale, distribution, and technical talent position it to benefit from AI across Search and Google Cloud. YouTube provides exposure to the shift toward connected TV, while Waymo remains a leader in autonomous driving.

Visa Inc. (V) operates a global payment network that connects consumers, businesses, and banks. It authorizes and settles electronic payments.
Visa Inc. (V) should benefit from consumer spending growth and the secular shift from cash to electronic payments, particularly outside the U.S., where digital adoption remains less penetrated. Visa's trusted brand, global acceptance network, and relationships with financial institutions create durable competitive advantages. Strong cash generation supports continued investment, dividends, and share repurchases.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) is the world's largest social media company, operating Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads with over 3.6 billion daily active people, monetizing primarily through digital advertising and investing heavily in artificial intelligence and augmented reality infrastructure.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) owns differentiated social platforms with large, highly engaged user bases. Advertisers follow user attention, and Meta’s ability to target ads and demonstrate attractive returns makes its platforms particularly valuable. We believe the company has substantial room to further monetize its global user base, especially outside the U.S. Meta could also emerge as a leader in consumer AI, with multiple paths to product integration and monetization.

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) is a leading semiconductor and infrastructure software company, designing custom AI accelerators and Ethernet networking chips for hyperscalers, and providing enterprise software through its VMware franchise, with additional semiconductor solutions in networking, storage, and wireless.
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) is reaching an inflection point in its semiconductor portfolio, driven by its AI solutions in networking and custom compute. We expect Broadcom to capture a significant share of most of the custom AI chips market, a market opportunity of hundreds of billions, and to grow VMware at a high-teens rate over the next few years. The rest of Broadcom’s semiconductor business is recovering, and we expect other software segments to grow at a mid-single-digit rate. The company has best-in-class margins and cash flow, which it returns to shareholders.

Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (MPWR) is a best-in-class fabless designer of high-performance analog power semiconductors that convert and control voltage in computing, data center, automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics. Proprietary process technology yields highly integrated products.
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (MPWR) has a long history of growing faster than the broader semiconductor market and still holds a small share of its addressable markets, providing a long growth runway. We believe it remains early in penetrating large and expanding markets, including data centers, automotive, communications, and industrial applications. MPS’s deep system-level knowledge, design expertise, entrepreneurial culture, and proprietary process, integration, and packaging technologies enable highly integrated, compact, energy-efficient, cost-effective solutions.

Welltower Inc. (WELL) is a leading health care real estate investment trust focused on senior housing, operating primarily through the seniors housing operating and triple-net lease models across the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Welltower Inc. (WELL) has substantial opportunity for cyclical recovery and continued secular growth in its senior housing business through occupancy and rent growth, and we are optimistic about its prospects. The company also benefits from its proven ability to recycle capital at attractive rates of return, a premier health care platform, partnerships with top-tier operators, and a well-respected management team focused solely on creating value on a per-share basis.