2024 SOHN Conference Stock Pitches

Jesse Cohn, Elliott Investment Management

Investment Idea: Etsy (ETSY)

E-commerce platform Etsy is an undervalued company, according to Elliott Investment Management managing partner Jesse Cohn. His firm owns over 10% of outstanding shares, which he said has a “really good business model” as it has proved to be highly profitable and extremely cash-generative.

While he maintains that Etsy is a durable business, he noted that Etsy has meaningfully underperformed the broader market, as the company has lost 19.6% year to date due to ongoing macroeconomic struggles in consumer spending since the Covid pandemic. That should be an opportunity for investment, according to the activist investor, however.

Etsy “trades in-line now with load and no growth peers across internet, e-commerce and traditional retail,” Cohn said. “On a cash flow basis, it trades at a discount to Bath & Body Works, Gap. … It’s relatively early in its operational and monetization process.”