Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Global Fund” second-quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the Ariel Global fund traded +3.32% higher, trailing the +6.18% return of the MSCI ACWI Index and outperforming the MSCI ACWI Value Index’s +2.98% gain. The fund’s lack of exposure to Materials and Energy was the greatest source of positive attribution in the quarter, while Communication Services holdings and choices within Information Technology detracted. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2023.
Ariel Global Fund highlighted stocks like Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) in the second quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Beijing, China, Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) is an internet search service provider. On September 12, 2023, Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) stock closed at $138.05 per share. One-month return of Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) was 2.00%, and its shares gained 5.13% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) has a market capitalization of $48.815 billion.
Ariel Global Fund made the following comment about Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) in its Q2 2023 investor letter:
“By comparison, after a strong run last quarter, China’s internet search and online community leader, Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) declined alongside a correction in Chinese stocks attributed to weak gross domestic product. We believe this price action runs counter to the company’s solid business fundamentals. Baidu delivered a top- and bottom-line earnings beat in the period, driven by a recovery in ad and cloud revenues. The company continues to invest heavily in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is launching a generative AI, Ernie Bot, aimed at rivaling Open AI’s ChatGPT. While monetization of the new technology is largely dependent on regulatory review, we think Baidu should continue to experience margin improvement with the ongoing implementation of efficiency and profitability initiatives. While some investors remain on the sidelines due to uncertainty surrounding China’s economic growth, government regulations, and the political rhetoric towards Taiwan, we remain enthusiastic about Baidu’s longer-term opportunity for revenue growth and margin expansion across internet search, cloud, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence and online video.”
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Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 36 hedge fund portfolios held Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) at the end of second quarter which was 43 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) in another article and shared the list of biggest social media companies in Asia. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2023 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.
