Giverny Capital Asset Management, LLC, an investment management company, recently published its fourth-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The portfolio continued its strong performance in the fourth quarter, but trailed the S&P 500 Index. The portfolio returned 0.78% compared to a 2.41% return for the S&P 500 Total Return Index in the quarter. The fund returned 21.09% in 2024 compared to the 25.02% return for the Index during the same period. For more information on the fund’s top picks in 2024, please check its top five holdings.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Giverny Capital Asset Management emphasized stocks such as Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN). Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) designs, manufactures, and markets Invisalign clear aligners, and iTero intraoral scanners and services. The one-month return Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) was 2.95%, and its shares lost 26.32% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 5, 2024, Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) stock closed at $218.38 per share, with a market capitalization of $16.303 billion.
Giverny Capital Asset Management stated the following regarding Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN), purchased in 2023. Align sells clear aligners for straightening teeth and aims to eventually displace wires and brackets (braces) as the standard in orthodontia. The company has excellent products and huge manufacturing scale advantages over rivals. It spends more on research & development than all its competitors combined and has invested heavily in its Invisalign brand, such that patients often ask for Invisalign by name. Most orthodontists are comfortable using wires and brackets, but a large majority of adult patients prefer clear aligners and, increasingly, teens (and their parents) are demanding them as well. Orthodontia is a huge market globally, with more than 20 million new cases annually. Align has by far the largest share in clear aligners, but only an 11% market share overall in braces. The PE multiple is 22x. Market Cap: $16 billion.”
An orthodontist examining a patient’s teeth with a intraoral scanner, demonstrating the precision of the company’s technology.
Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 50 hedge fund portfolios held Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) at the end of the third quarter which was 47 in the previous quarter. Align Technology, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ALGN) fourth quarter revenue increased 4% year-over-year to $995 million. While we acknowledge the potential of Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) 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.
In another article we discussed Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) and shared the list of 3D printing and additive manufacturing stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.