Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Discovery Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the third quarter, the fund appreciated 13.55% (Institutional Shares), outperforming the 8.41% return for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. Year-to-date, the fund returned 9.50% compared to the index’s 13.22% return. The firm was pleased with the fund’s performance in the third quarter and believes that the bear market in small-cap growth stocks, which began in February 2021, may finally end. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Baron Discovery Fund highlighted stocks like Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON) manufacturers conducted energy devices (CEDs) under the TASER brand. The one-month return of Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON) was 7.17%, and its shares gained 113.04% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 6, 2024, Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON) stock closed at $459.52 per share with a market capitalization of $34.728 billion.
Baron Discovery Fund stated the following regarding Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON) is the leading provider of tasers, body cameras, software, and other solutions for law enforcement. Shares rose following an exceptionally strong second quarter earnings report, highlighted by revenue growth of over 25% for the 10th straight quarter. This was led by nearly 50% growth in Axon’s software business. Axon introduced Draft One software for law enforcement officers, which leverages generative AI and body-worn camera audio to produce high-quality draft report narratives in seconds, freeing up 20% to 25% of an officer’s day. This product showcases the many potential generative AI use cases in Axon’s business. International bookings were up 100%, driven in part by growing interest in Draft One and the Taser 10 product. Run by a visionary founder with a best-in-class team, the company is continually pushing new and innovative products in the pursuit of becoming the de-facto public safety ecosystem. We believe Axon will become a much larger company over time.”
A technician in a white coat testing an in-car system on a modern military vehicle.
Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 36 hedge fund portfolios held Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON) at the end of the second quarter which was 35 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON) 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 Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON) and shared Conestoga Capital Advisors’ views on the company. 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.