Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its “Meridian Growth Fund” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. Early gains in large caps and tech leaders expanded to include other sectors and smaller companies, especially later in the quarter. Large companies outperformed small ones, gaining 10.3% and 5.2%, respectively. In the first quarter, the fund returned 2.25% (net) lagging behind the benchmark, the Russell 2500 Growth Index’s 8.51% return. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Meridian Growth Fund highlighted stocks like ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) provides a digital marketplace where buyers and sellers can connect for the online auction of wholesale vehicles. The one-month return of ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) was 0.00%, and its shares gained 4.38% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 25, 2024, ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) stock closed at $17.86 per share with a market capitalization of $2.948 billion.
Meridian Growth Fund stated the following regarding ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) operates a digital wholesale auction marketplace to facilitate business-to-business used car sales between sellers and dealers. It has disrupted the traditional physical used-car auction marketplace by attracting thousands of dealers to its online platform. ACV’s competitive advantage is its sizeable team of inspectors and the technology tools supporting this team. The depth and accuracy of ACV’s inspection reports provide buyers the confidence to bid aggressively, knowing that they are unlikely to contend with negative post-purchase surprises. Sellers are drawn to ACV due to its lower auction fees and large buyer base. The stock appreciated during the quarter on strong results and 2024 guidance that came in well ahead of expectations. After a challenging 2-year period characterized by low dealer inventories and high car prices, new and used car markets are showing signs of normalization. We expect ACV to continue growing market share and to generate higher margins as volumes return closer to normal (volumes remain approximately 40% below pre-pandemic levels). The company is also well positioned as the market continues to migrate from legacy physical auctions toward ACV’s more efficient digital platform. As fundamentals continued to improve during the quarter, we maintained a large position in the company.”
A row of used cars with shoppers inspecting them on a lot.
ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 26 hedge fund portfolios held ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) at the end of the first quarter which was 25 in the previous quarter. ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) reported first-quarter revenue of $146 million, which was at the high end of guidance and represented a 22% year-over-year growth. While we acknowledge the potential of ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
We discussed ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) in another article and shared NCG Micro-Cap Strategy’s views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
