Uncovering Tilson’s “Perfect Portfolio” (“Tech Titan”) Picks

Whitney Tilson’s latest Empire Research presentation focused on a company he referred to as “America’s #1 Retirement Stock” and three “Tech Titan” stocks he’s bullish on.

Tilson gave his first pick away for free (Berkshire Hathaway) but kept a lid on his three tech company picks. To get those, you need to join his Empire Stock Investor newsletter for $49 and see a report he created called “The Perfect Portfolio.”

I looked into his picks, though. And in this post, I’ll show you what my guesses are on all three of Tilson’s picks. But first, let’s discuss his “retirement” pick.

Tilson’s “America’s #1 Retirement Stock” Pick

Tilson’s latest presentation began with a discussion about the state of the market and how he believes things could get tougher for investors from here.

“I understand the magnitude of what’s going on in the markets right now…

After 20 years of running a hedge fund, I’ve been through times exactly like this.

It’s been a tough road for investors lately, and it could get tougher.”

He also talked about how, as a result of the turmoil, a large percentage of investors have pulled out of the market, which he said is “the worst thing you could do.”

Long story short, he suggested that the four companies he teased in the presentation could be a better option than “sitting paralyzed” (AKA sitting on the sidelines).

Tilson has dubbed his first pick “America’s #1 Retirement Stock” and said it “may be the most important opportunity for anyone aged 40 and older.” In fact, he apparently likes it so much he’d “back up the truck” and put half of his kid’s college fund into it.

“I believe it may be the most important opportunity for anyone aged 40 and older.

I like this investment so much, I’d ‘back up the truck’ and put 50% of my kid’s college fund into it.

And over the next few minutes, I’ll tell you why I’d do so… and what I’d do with the other 50% of the money.”

What is it? Well, this one didn’t require any sleuthing at all because Tilson gave this pick away for free in the presentation: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-B).

“OK, now let me tell you about the company I call ‘America’s #1 Retirement Stock.’

For those of you who haven’t guessed by now, the stock I’ve been talking about is Berkshire Hathaway.

You can buy shares for a few hundred bucks under the ticker BRK-B.”

The “B” part of the above ticker indicates that Tilson is recommending Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway, which are (WAY) cheaper than the Class A shares.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Class A shares are currently (June 2022) selling for just over $400K a share, which puts them out of the reach of the average investor. And from what I understand, that is one of the reasons why the Class B shares were created in 1996.

In any case, the main difference between these, according to Investopedia, is that Class B shares are “more modestly priced and have a correspondingly modest share of equity value in the company.”

Why is Tilson recommending Berkshire?

I can’t speak for Whitney Tilson, but one thing you’ll quickly realize by following his work is that he’s a huge fan of Warren Buffet. Understandably so, too, since Buffet is one of the greatest investors of all time and practically wrote the book on value investing.

It’s also a company he’s been investing in for 20 years:

“I spent 20 years investing in this company and, like I said, I’ve bought ‘America’s #1 Retirement Stock’ every time it has gotten as cheap as it is today. And I’ve made a lot of money EVERY SINGLE TIME I bought more shares.”

BRK-B has seen a roughly 25% decline in price from March 2022 to now, and based on the above statement, Tilson seems to think it’s “cheap” right now. So other than liking the company, this may help explain why he’s recommending it now.

In any case, Tilson breaks down his Berkshire recommendation in a report called “America’s #1 Retirement Stock,” which comes with an Empire Stock Investor subscription.

And as mentioned, there are THREE other companies Tilson’s bullish on, which he said could be “among the best investments in the world over the next few years.”

“But I think you’ll also want to hear about three additional stocks that I believe will be among the best investments in the world over the next few years.

These are stocks that could help reset your portfolio, increase your earning potential in 2022, and set you up far better than most other investors right now.”

Tilson didn’t reveal these companies in the presentation, but I think I know what they are based on the clues he shared. So let’s take a look at these picks now.

Whitney Tilson’s Three “Perfect Portfolio” (“Tech Titan” Stock Picks

The following three Whitney Tilson picks are detailed in a report called “The Perfect Portfolio,” which comes with an Empire Stock Investor subscription.

And he refers to each of them as “Tech Titans.”

“I call these companies ‘Tech Titans’ because I consider them the best technology investments in the world right now.”

Here’s how he describes each pick in the presentation:

• “Tech Titan #1: The Company that Could Soon Revolutionize How Americans Take Care of Their Health”
• “Tech Titan #2: The Company Dominating the Business Behind AI”
• “Tech Titan #3: The Only Augmented-Reality Company on the Path to a Billion Users”

“Tech Titan #1: The Company that Could Soon Revolutionize How Americans Take Care of Their Health”

Tilson’s first “Tech Titan” pick is apparently not a traditional health care company, but he believes it could “become the largest carrier for delivery services in America.”

“The first stock that I think could make me multiple times my money going forward has its target set on one of America’s most important industries: medicine.

But what’s interesting is that this company is not a traditional health care company.

It’s actually about to become the largest carrier for delivery services in America.

Larger than the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, and FedEx.”

He also, in a roundabout way, suggested that it delivers medications:

“Today, you can get medications like insulin and inhalers shipped right to your door, with two-day delivery.

This practice could revolutionize primary care all around the world.”

None of that’s enough to go off if we want to know what company Tilson’s teasing, but he did share the following clues, which are pretty tangible:

“CNBC says this company could ‘remake the entire health care supply chain.’

And Business Insider says it ‘could dominate health care’ and ultimately ‘transform the space.’

I conservatively estimate this company’s profits will continue to grow by 70% per year for the next several years. That level of success could mean huge gains for you over that time.

That may be one reason why billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban says he has close to a billion dollars invested in this company right now. It’s also his biggest holding.”

What could it be?

Well, the first quote Tilson shared appears to be taken from a CNBC article about Amazon, the Business Insider quote also appears to have been regarding Amazon. And as for what Tilson said about Mark Cuban, according to Motley Fool, Cuban said he had close to $1 billion in Amazon stock in 2019.

So, Tilson’s first pick appears to be Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN).

Amazon is probably best known as an e-commerce company, but it has operations in numerous other industries, and one of its services is called Amazon Care, which the company says “combines the best of virtual care and in-person services.”

Also, a subsidiary of Amazon called Amazon Pharmacy provides customers with on-call pharmacists and medication delivery services.

And that is likely what Tilson was referring to when he said the company “could revolutionize primary care all around the world.”

“Tech Titan #2: The Company Dominating the Business Behind AI”

The next so-called “Tech Titan” Tilson’s recommending is a company that he predicts “will become the dominant player in AI” (artificial intelligence).

“The AI marketplace is accelerating quickly. Research shows it could be worth a whopping $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030.

This is why the second technology company I recommend you invest in right now is one I predict will become the dominant player in AI.”

What does the company do?

According to Tilson, it has “innovated one of the best machine learning technologies in the world” and says there’s an “infinite number of applications to put it to use.” He also suggests it could disrupt industries like logistics, healthcare, and others.

“You see, this company has innovated one of the best machine learning technologies in the world.

And the applications for it are endless…

The company is using it to make it easier for Americans to do things every day – whether it’s managing your calendar, checking the weather, playing your favorite music, or finding nearby restaurants.

But it is also using it on farms to keep cows healthy and dairy farms efficient. And it is using it to become the leader in the race to make vehicles drive themselves.

In short, this company has the most state-of-the-art AI among any business in the world, an infinite number of applications to put it to use, and nothing standing in its way to disrupt industries like logistics, health care, and many more.”

As with Tilson’s last pick, it was the quotes he shared that gave this pick away. One was a Wired quote, and the other was a quote from The Economist.

“Wired even said that ‘the race to dominate the personal AI space… is closer to being over than most people realize’ and that this innovative tech company ‘is poised to win.'”

[…]

“It’s why The Economist says this firm is winning the battle ‘to dominate artificial intelligence’…”

Long story short, both of those quotes were in reference to Google, which is owned by Alphabet Inc. So, Tilson’s second pick appears to be Alphabet. Although it’s unclear exactly what ticker he’s referring to as it trades under both GOOGL and GOOG.

“Tech Titan #3: The Only Augmented-Reality Company on the Path to a Billion Users”

Tilson refers to his third pick as a “gorilla of the augmented-reality world” and says he believes it will be the “dominant force in the augmented-reality business.”

Unlike his last two picks, Tilson didn’t share any quotes about this company. Instead, his main clues were about what the company does and the sales it has made.

“It’s building an entire universe where people can escape to, socialize, watch esports, and even partake in them.

It has already generated more than $100 million in sales from its virtual content.”

My initial suspicion was that this pick is Meta (formerly Facebook), given Tilson’s last two picks and considering what he said about this company.

And after looking into his “generated more than $100 million in sales” clue, which was the only real tangible clue he shared, it matches Meta’s Oculus VR headsets.

According to a 2019 techcrunch.com article, Facebook (now Meta) announced that the company “has surpassed $100 million in revenue in the Oculus store.”

So, while I’m a little less sure about this one, given the lack of clues, Tilson’s third pick appears to be Meta Platforms, Inc. (ticker: META).

How can you find out for sure?

The best way to get all the details about Tilson’s three “Tech Titan” picks would be to see his “The Perfect Portfolio” report, which comes with an Empire Stock Investor subscription.

What Is Empire Stock Investor?

Empire Stock Investor is Whitney Tilson’s flagship investment newsletter service focused on different trends he’s following, which are mostly related to tech and biotech. And according to the Empire Financial Research website, most of his picks are U.S. large cap stocks.

As for the man behind it, Whitney Tilson, he’s a former hedge fund manager with over 20 years of experience and runs Empire Financial Research. He is pretty well-known in the stock advisory space, too. And I’ve covered a bunch of his stock teasers on this blog.

Most recently, I wrote about a “$4 Inflation Stock” he teased, and before that, I summarised some of Tilson’s main predictions and picks for 2022.

Anyway, the gist of Empire Stock Investor is that each month, Tilson shares his latest insights, updates, and recommendations with subscribers of the newsletter.

The cost of joining is usually $199, but as with most of the Whitney Tilson presentations I’ve looked into, this presentation about allows you to subscribe for $49 for the first year.

This gives you access to the reports I mentioned earlier (“America’s #1 Retirement Stock” and “The Perfect Portfolio”), Tilson’s monthly picks, and other resources.

Bottom Line

The “America’s #1 Retirement Stock” Whitney Tilson teased in the presentation was Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway. And my research suggests that his three “Tech Titan” picks, which he shares in “The Perfect Portfolio” report are Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta.

Those last three are just my best guesses, and regardless of what companies Tilson recommends, there’s no guarantee you’ll profit from his ideas. But at least now you have a better idea of what his picks are and what his newsletter is about.

Thanks for reading.