Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy” fourth-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. According to the Russell 2000 Growth Index, U.S. small cap growth stocks experienced a 1.7% increase in the fourth quarter and a 15% rise for the year 2024. In what proved to be a tumultuous quarter, small caps surged over 10% following the U.S. Presidential election in November, but nearly all of those gains were lost in December as the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated a more gradual reduction in interest rates expected in 2025. In the fourth quarter, the fund delivered 5.09% gross, and 4.73% net of fees compared to a 1.70% return for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to find out its best picks for 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy emphasized stocks such as AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN). AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN) offers healthcare workforce solutions and staffing services to healthcare facilities. The one-month return AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN) was 0.38%, and its shares lost 64.50% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 5, 2024, AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN) stock closed at $26.61 per share, with a market capitalization of $1.013 billion.
Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy stated the following regarding AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN), the nation’s largest healthcare staffing provider, saw fundamentals deteriorate over 2024 as the temp nurse staffing market endures a painful reset following a surge during COVID. Overall, the reset has been more severe than we initially expected and amplified by significant cost pressures as hospitals attempt to right-size their balance sheets. Ultimately, this contributed to an outsized negative stock reaction following earnings—a 30% decline—as investors questioned the timeline for a recovery in the temp nurse staffing market. While we believe the market will normalize and performance will improve, we currently have AMN under review, as dictated by our investment process.”
A healthcare professional in scrubs, busy at work at a hospital.
AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 25 hedge fund portfolios held AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN) at the end of the third quarter which was 21 in the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2024, AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN) reported consolidated revenue of $688 million, down 19% from the third quarter of 2023 and down 7% sequentially. While we acknowledge the potential of AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN) 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 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.