Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its “Meridian Small Cap Growth Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. Major index returns increased throughout the quarter due to strong profits from large-cap technology companies, especially those connected to artificial intelligence. But the market’s breadth revealed a different picture. The fund returned -3.54% (net) in the second quarter compared to the Russell 2000 Growth Index’s -2.92% return. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Meridian Small Cap Growth Fund highlighted stocks like Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) is a non-lethal self-defense technology company. The one-month return of Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) was 53.57%, and its shares gained 541.51% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 20, 2024, Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) stock closed at $17.00 per share with a market capitalization of $387.207 million.
Meridian Small Cap Growth Fund stated the following regarding Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) is a leading at-home self-defense company that designs, manufactures, and sells non-lethal alternative defense solutions for consumers and law enforcement. Primarily sold through Byrna’s e-commerce store and Amazon storefront, Byrna’s non-lethal handheld and shoulder-fired personal security devices do not require a background check or firearm license. We believe the company’s innovative solutions have an expansive opportunity for growth. While the company continues to execute well and fundamentals remain strong, the stock price softened in the quarter as a result of relatively low trading volumes and subsequently, we trimmed our position.”
A military personnel in gear next to a shoulder-fired launcher, representing the company’s less-lethal defense technology.
Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 8 hedge fund portfolios held Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) at the end of the second quarter which was 9 in the previous quarter. Byrna Technologies Inc.’s (NASDAQ:BYRN) second quarter revenue was $20.3 million, up 76% from Q2 2023. While we acknowledge the potential of Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) 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 Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) and shared Meridian Small Cap Growth Fund’s views on the company. 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.