Wall Street is dominated by data, and it can sometimes feel overwhelming. Having thousands of publicly traded companies reporting their results quarterly, coupled with near-daily economic data releases, can make it easy for investors to miss something important.

Less than four weeks ago, what's arguably the most important of all data releases for the first quarter hit the newswires. While Feb. 14 marked a day of special treatment for significant others across the country, it also served as the deadline for institutional investors with at least $100 million in assets under management (AUM) to file Form 13F with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A 13F offers investors a glimpse over the shoulders of Wall Street's leading money managers. It outlines which stocks they've been buying and selling in the latest quarters, thereby providing insight into the stocks, industries, sectors, and trends piquing the interest of top asset managers.

While billionaire money managers have done well riding the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, there's one hypergrowth stock among the bunch -- which has gained north of 1,500% since its initial public offering (IPO) -- three of Wall Street's prominent billionaire investors have as their top holding.

Image source: Getty Images.

Billionaires are wagering billions on the outperformance of this hypergrowth stock

On the surface, billionaire fund managers Chase Coleman, Stephen Mandel, and Terry Smith don't have a lot in common.

Coleman oversees close to $26.5 billion in AUM at Tiger Global Management and has an affinity for high-growth tech stocks (especially those involved with AI), as well as small-caps. Meanwhile, Stephen Mandel is managing $13.5 billion in AUM at Lone Pine Capital, and his focus tends to blend growth stocks with companies effecting turnaround campaigns. Lastly, Terry Smith of Fundsmith, who's referred to as "Britain's Warren Buffett," is a keen value investor who has $23.5 billion in AUM.

Despite their differing approaches, Coleman, Mandel, and Smith do share one interesting trait: their love for social media maven Meta Platforms (META -4.42%).

Based on 13F filings for the December-ended quarter:

• Chase Coleman's Tiger Global Management held 7,465,139 shares
• Stephen Mandel's Lone Pine Capital held 2,036,930 shares
• Terry Smith's Fundsmith held 4,561,352 shares

For all three billionaire investors, Meta Platforms is their top holding. Honorable mention also goes to Coatue Management's billionaire chief, Philippe Laffont. Coatue closed out the fourth quarter with Meta as its second-largest holding.

As with any public company, Meta faces potential headwinds. At the moment, the prospect of a U.S. recession is perhaps its biggest concern. The latest update from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's GDPNow forecast calls for a 2.4% contraction in first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP). Businesses aren't shy about paring back their ad spending at the first hint of trouble, which would be worrisome for Meta.

Nevertheless, there are a handful of clear-cut catalysts that have encouraged these three billionaires to make Meta Platforms their No. 1 holding.

Image source: Getty Images.

Meta's magnificence, in a nutshell

Before diving into Meta's long-term growth drivers, it's important to understand just how foundational the company's social media assets are. In December 2024, Meta's family of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Threads, lured an average of 3.35 billion daily active users. No other social media company comes particularly close to attracting as many eyeballs on a daily basis.

The advantage of having the world's premier social media assets is that advertisers are willing to pay up to get their message(s) in front of users. In 2024, Meta notes the average ad price rose by 10% from the previous year.

Furthermore, Meta Platforms has the numbers game in its corner. Even though advertising is highly cyclical, periods of economic expansion last substantially longer than contractions. With nearly 98% of Meta's net sales deriving from ads, it's ideally positioned to benefit from lengthy periods of economic growth.

With this solid foundation in place, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been free to aggressively invest in other high-growth initiatives. For instance, Meta is spending north of $10 billion to acquire 350,000 graphics processing units from Nvidia to use in its AI-accelerated data centers.

While most businesses haven't come close to optimizing their AI solutions, Meta is already reaping the benefits of incorporating AI into its ad-driven platforms. Offering business access to generative AI solutions is allowing them to tailor their message(s) to unique users.

Additionally, Meta is planning to lean heavily on artificial intelligence within the metaverse. AI can be used for everything from personalized avatar creation to generating content, such as animations and storylines within the metaverse. Although the metaverse is still (likely) years away from being a notable revenue driver, Meta is positioning itself as one its leading on-ramps.

Tying everything together is Meta Platforms' cash-rich balance sheet. It ended last year with roughly $77.8 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, and generated an astounding $91.3 billion in net cash from operations in 2024. Zuckerberg has the ability to take risks and slow-step potentially high-growth projects, which is a luxury most businesses lack.

Even though Meta stock has had a phenomenal run from its 2022 bear market low, billionaires Chase Coleman, Stephen Mandel, and Terry Smith have every reason to be excited about its future.

Since going public in 2012, Meta's sales and net income have soared by more than 4,300% and 6,100%, respectively. This hypergrowth stock is currently valued at less than 22 times forward-year earnings, which remains a steal given its sustained double-digit sales and profit growth rate.