Fundie vs AI: The best ASX growth stocks for the next 12 months

Earlier in the week, we brought you the first instalment of the Fundie versus AI thought experiment, pitting Google's Bard against Dr Don Hamson from Plato Investment Management in selecting five income stocks for the next 12 months. You can view that wire below:

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Fundie vs AI: Who is the better stock picker? (and 10 ASX stock ideas for your trouble)

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Today we’re shifting the focus to growth stocks and we’ve engaged Tobias Yao from Wilson Asset Management. Once again, thanks to Tobias for participating in this thought experiment. For anyone who missed the first instalment, here are the parameters;

• Each competitor is to provide five stock picks within the given factor (growth, income, etc) and provide a short summary of the bullish thesis.
• We will track the performance over the following calendar year, with entry prices calculated from COB, 7 February 2024, to answer the question: Who is the better stock picker?
• We recognise that this is nothing more than a fun, but nonetheless important, thought experiment. Ultimately, AI will likely become a tool that all use to make more informed decisions, across a broad range of topics.

The competitors

• In the blue corner, we have Google’s AI – BARD. Bard was released on 21 March, 2023, and is available in 46 languages and 238 countries.
• In the red corner, we have Tobias Yao, from Wilson Asset Management. Tobias joined Wilson Asset Management in 2014 and works within WAM Capital, WAM Microcap, WAM Research and WAM Active. Tobias has over 13 years of experience in the investment industry. Before this, he spent five years as an investment analyst at Pengana Capital and previously worked in Ernst & Young’s transaction advisory services division. Tobias was featured on Buy Hold Sell in August last year:

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The disclaimer

The information provided below is not, nor is it intended to be, a set of recommendations. It is provided for educational purposes only. Please do your own research and seek advice from a professional before investing. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future return.

The stock picks

• Bard

On Monday 22 January, my more tech-savvy colleague, Kerry Sun, asked Bard for the five best growth and five best income stocks for the next 12 months. We are focused on growth stocks in this wire and Bard provided the following:

Predicting future performance is tricky, but here are five ASX 200 contenders for potential growth in the next year:

1. NextDC (ASX: NXT): Booming data center demand driven by cloud and AI.
2. Webjet (ASX: WEB): Travel recovery continues, online bookings expected to surge.
3. Life 360 (ASX: 360): Location tech leader with large addressable market, potential partnerships.
4. Flight Centre (ASX: FLT): Travel revival gaining momentum, benefiting from efficient business model.
5. Lovisa Holdings (ASX: LOV): Global expansion plans for affordable fashion jewelry, strong brand appeal.

• Tobias Yao – Wilson Asset Management

On Friday, February 2, Yao provided the following five picks

• Life 360 (ASX: 360) – Leading family location safety app that’s benefiting from strong subscriptions growth.
• Tuas Limited (ASX: TUA) – Fastest growing Singaporean telco provider gaining significant market share
• Temple and Webster (ASX: TPW) – dominant furniture and homewares online platform that’s continuing to scale profitably.
• Siteminder (ASX: SDR) – Global Hotel channel management software provider
• Megaport (ASX: MP1) – Software connectivity service provider that’s looking to accelerate growth

Interestingly, both Bard and Yao chose Life360, so it will be a matter of how the remaining picks perform against each other to determine a winner.

See you in 12 months

There you have it, everyone – the picks are in. We will revisit the selections in 12 months. 

Who do you think the winner will be and what are your thoughts about abdicating investment responsibility to AI? Whilst this is a fun thought experiment, that is a question that you will likely need to answer at some point in your investing journey, especially those in the younger cohort. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below