Baron Risk Optimized Large Cap Strategy

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) sells semiconductors, systems, and software for accelerated computing, gaming, and generative AI.
Computing demand has been doubling every one to two years, driven by electrification, digitization, and recent advancements in AI, yet supply growth has decelerated dramatically due to the slowdown in Moore's law. NVIDIA’s 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 NVIDIA is well positioned for long-term growth.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) designs, manufactures, and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. Its products include the iPhone, iPad, Mac personal computer, Apple smartwatch, Apple TV, and HomePod. The company also offers advertising and app discovery services through its App Store.
As the creator and owner of one of the largest and most popular consumer electronics platforms, Apple, in our view, is well positioned to benefit from the network effect that typically accrues to platform companies. It has a large and growing ecosystem, a trusted brand, and positive optionality through leveraging its large installed base to expand into additional consumer and enterprise services. We believe Apple trades at a discount to our estimate of its intrinsic value, with capital return and growth alleviating near-term trade and iPhone demand uncertainty.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) is the parent of Google, the world’s leading online search provider. Its products and services include advertising, Android, Chrome, Google Cloud, Google Maps, Google Play, and YouTube. Other Bets includes businesses such as Waymo and CapitalG.
Alphabet 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.

Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) is an e-commerce pioneer, innovator, and market share leader with a relentless focus on providing value and convenience to its customers. Amazon also operates the industry-leading cloud infrastructure business Amazon Web Services (AWS). 
Amazon's market share of U.S. online retail sales is around 45%, 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. 

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) designs, manufactures, and launches rockets, satellites, and spacecrafts. Its ultimate goal is to make humanity multi-planetary. Products include reusable orbital launch offerings and a broadband service leveraging its satellite constellation, Starlink.
SpaceX is redefining the future as a vertically integrated leader in space, global connectivity, and AI. Rocket reusability fuels SpaceX's industry-leading launch cadence and scale while driving down cost—enabling rapid Starlink growth across global broadband, mobile services, and next-gen satellite constellations. Looking ahead, orbital AI may offer solar-powered compute at unprecedented scale and efficiency. Together with its in-house chip innovation and platforms like Grok, Macrohard, and Cursor, SpaceX is well-positioned to be a key player in the AI revolution.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) operates more than 930 membership-based warehouse clubs globally. It offers a limited assortment of branded and private-label merchandise, including Kirkland Signature, primarily in large-format packaging designed to deliver value to members.
Costco’s membership model and low-cost operations create a defensible retail franchise. Low prices, high-quality merchandise, Kirkland Signature, and a distinctive “treasure hunt” experience support strong member loyalty. Its value proposition should provide resilience across economic cycles, while high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover drive operating efficiency. Strong cash generation supports continued investment, dividends, and share repurchases.

Welltower Inc. (WELL) is a $100 billion diversified health care owner and manager of senior housing, including assisted and independent living. Core to its strategy is to partner with top-tier operators and health systems while providing operators access to its proprietary data analytics platform.
We are optimistic about the prospects for Welltower given the substantial opportunity for cyclical recovery and continued secular growth in its senior housing business through occupancy and rent growth. The company also benefits from its proven ability to recycle capital at attractive rates of returns, premier health care platform, partnerships with top-tier operators, and well-respected management team focused solely on creating value on a per-share basis.

Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) is a global pharmaceutical company developing and marketing medicines in diabetes and obesity, oncology, immunology, and neuroscience. It is best known for its GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonists for diabetes and obesity.
We invest in Lilly for its exposure to high-growth categories, including diabetes, obesity, and oncology. Mounjaro and Zepbound, dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonists, provide strong glucose control and can produce average weight loss of about 20% at the highest dose in adults with obesity. Tirzepatide has also shown cardiovascular benefits in select high-risk populations. We believe incretin therapies will become standard care for diabetes and obesity, creating a market we estimate could exceed $150 billion.

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) designs, develops, and supplies a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions. Its semiconductor devices serve broadband, networking, wireless, storage, and industrial markets, while its software offerings focus on operational efficiency tools for large enterprises.
Broadcom’s semiconductor portfolio is reaching an inflection point, 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.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM), known as TSMC, is the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry, manufacturing chips on behalf of other companies.
TSMC is the dominant force in leading-edge semiconductor foundry manufacturing, as it benefits from economies of scale and a superior cost structure. The company's successful track record of deploying new technology faster than competitors helps it maintain market share and pricing power. We believe TSMC’s investments in advanced nodes will strengthen its market leadership and support long-term profitability.