Temasek Holdings recently released its 2023 Annual Review and communicated its T2030 strategy for the remainder of this decade.
Although the investment firm reported a one-year total shareholder return (TSR) of negative 5.07%, its 20-year TSR remained solid at 9%.
This level of returns handily beat Singapore’s annualised core inflation rate of 1.8% over the same period.
The key to Temasek’s impressive performance is its patience.
The firm purchases stakes in robust listed and unlisted businesses and then holds them over the long term.
Over time, the growth in these businesses, along with dividends received, help Temasek to achieve a stellar long-term return.
Here are three US stocks in Temasek’s portfolio that are close to their 52-week highs that you can consider for your buy watchlist.
Visa (NYSE: V)
Visa is a financial services company that helps to facilitate funds transfers through its branded debit and credit cards.
As of Visa’s fiscal 2023’s first quarter (1Q FY2023) ending 31 December 2022, the company had a total of 4.2 billion issued cards, 7% higher than a year ago.
The financial services firm’s share price has also shot up 15.4% year-to-date, approaching its 52-week high of US$245.37.
For the first six months of fiscal 2023 (1H FY2023), Visa reported a 11.7% year on year increase in revenue to US$15.9 billion.
Operating profit rose 8.9% year on year to US$10.4 billion while net profit improved by 10.9% year on year to US$8.4 billion.
Visa also generated US$7.6 billion of free cash flow for 1H FY2023, 4% higher than the US$7.3 billion in the prior year.
The company also paid out a quarterly dividend of US$0.45, 20% higher than the US$0.375 paid out a year ago.
Last month, Visa splashed out US$1 billion in cash to acquire Pismo, a cloud-native issuer processing and core banking platform with operations in Latin America, Asia Pacific, and Europe.
This acquisition will enable Visa to provide core banking and issuer processing capabilities across its wide range of debit, credit, and prepaid cards for its clients.
Coupled with border reopenings and increased consumer spending on air travel and holidays, the future looks bright for the business.
Mastercard (NYSE: MA)
Mastercard, like Visa, is also a payment processing giant with a total of close to 3.2 billion issued debit and credit cards in circulation.
The company’s share price has increased by 14.6% year-to-date, bringing it close to its 52-week high of US$404.
Mastercard saw worldwide gross dollar volume jump 15% year on year for its fiscal 2023’s first quarter (1Q 2023) to US$2.1 trillion.
Because of this, the payments company reported an 11.2% year on year rise in revenue to US$5.7 billion.
Operating profit edged up 6.3% year on year to US$3.1 billion.
However, net profit dipped by 10.3% year on year to US$2.4 billion because of higher income tax expenses.
Despite the fall in net profit, Mastercard generated a positive free cash flow of US$1.6 billion for the quarter.
The company raised its quarterly dividend by 16.3% from US$0.49 last year to US$0.57.
BlackRock (NYSE: BLK)
BlackRock is a global investment manager that manages US$9.4 trillion of assets under management (AUM) as of 30 June 2023.
BlackRock’s share price has risen by 5.5% year-to-date and is approaching its 52-week high of US$785.65.
The asset manager reported a mixed set of results for its 2023’s second quarter (2Q 2023).
Revenue slipped by 1% year on year to US$4.46 billion while operating profit declined by 3% year on year to US$1.6 billion.
Net profit, however, climbed 27% year on year to US$1.37 billion.
The quarter also saw net inflows of around US$80.2 billion, comparable to the US$89.6 billion that flowed in during the second quarter of 2022.
BlackRock also paid out a quarterly dividend of US$5 per share, up from US$4.88 in the previous year.
During its Investor Day, the company expects more growth as the exchange-traded funds (ETF) industry is projected to grow to US$25 trillion of AUM by 2030.
Even then, it will still be just a small percentage of global capital markets, signalling potential further growth.
Fixed-income ETFs are also expected to triple their AUM from US$800 billion to US$2.5 trillion by 2030.
BlackRock is also optimistic about international growth and has targeted Mexico, Saudi Arabia, India, and China as markets where it sees opportunities.
Want to protect your child’s money from inflation? Transform your child’s ‘piggy bank’ into a ‘golden goose’ that keeps giving even until they have grandchildren. Our latest FREE report shows you a stress-free method and 3 superstar stocks that could protect your child’s money from inflation. Click HERE to get a copy of our latest guide.
Disclosure: Royston Yang owns shares of Visa and Mastercard.
