Andvari Associates, an investment management firm, released its second quarter 2024 investor letter, a copy of which can be downloaded here. Year to date, the portfolio appreciated 7.7% net of fees while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF rose 15.2%. There are two primary causes of Andvari’s trailing returns: (1) the firm does not hold some of the biggest and best-performing companies, such as Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon; and (2) poor performance of Mesa. Andvari invested in a diverse range of companies in terms of market cap. Andvari’s performance in the first half of the year is in line with what the market typically generates in a complete year. It can feel disappointing, though, if compared with higher performance of the large caps. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to find out its best picks for 2024.
Andvari Associates highlighted stocks like Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) develops, designs, manufactures, sells, and services life sciences tools and quality control products and services. The one-month return of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) was 22.06%, and its shares lost 12.44% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 30, 2024, Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) stock closed at $110.37 per share with a market capitalization of $597.009 million.
Andvari Associates stated the following regarding Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“The main reasons for Andvari’s lagging returns are twofold: (1) Andvari has not owned some of the largest and best performing companies such as Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon; and (2) the poor performance from Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB). Andvari sold out of two holdings, the largest of which is Mesa. Mesa was one of our longest held investments at the time we sold. It had performed well up until the end of 2021. Unfortunately, we held on too long. Management made two large acquisitions, one before and the other during the COVID era. It eventually turned out they paid too much for both, which does not speak well of their ability to allocate capital.
Mesa later announced in June it would delay the filing of its annual audited financial statements. A significant part of Andvari’s investment thesis was that Mesa could transition from a small-cap company run in a small-cap way to a mid- to mid-cap company run in a more professional manner. After failing to file one of its most important documents in a timely manner, Andvari felt—regretfully—some vindication we decided to cut bait and throw our line out for better fish. Thinking about what Andvari could have done differently, we likely would have made the same investment given what we knew at the time, but we should have made it a smaller position.”
A scientist conducting a test in a lab, with a background of complex equipment.
Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 13 hedge fund portfolios held Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) at the end of the first quarter which was 14 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Mesa Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLAB) 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 Q2 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.
