Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen Focus Growth Strategy” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the fund returned -0.11% (gross) and -0.31% (net) compared to 8.33% for the Russell 1000 Growth Index and 4.28% for the S&P 500 Index. Generative AI (GenAI) remains the dominant market narrative in the second quarter. The portfolio does not own NVIDIA or other Semiconductor companies that are presently benefitting from the demand for AI hardware. However, with the portfolio’s extensive investment in software and IT services, the firm anticipates that GenAI’s long-term economic gains will go to these industries. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is a technology company that develops products to connect people. The one-month return of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was -4.43%, and its shares gained 63.50% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 3, 2024, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) stock closed at $476.79 per share with a market capitalization of $1.209 trillion.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“In the second quarter, the top relative contributors to the Portfolio’s performance were all names we do not hold: Home Depot, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), and AbbVie. Meta Platforms delivered robust results in the period, with revenue growth accelerating in the first quarter. However, revenue comparisons for Meta will become more difficult from here, and its guidance for 2Q revenue fell below market expectations. After the company’s “year of efficiency,” where it cut costs in its core business, management is now indicating another ramp-up in GenAI and metaverse spending, spurring concerns about future profit margins. Metaverse spending, by our calculations, is now over $20 billion per year with little to no expected return on the foreseeable horizon.”
A team of developers working in unison to create the company’s messaging application.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is in third position on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 246 hedge fund portfolios held Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) at the end of the first quarter which was 242 in the previous quarter. Meta Platforms, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:META) trailing 12 months revenue was $142.71 billion and year over year quarterly revenue growth rate is 27.30%. While we acknowledge the potential of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) 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 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and shared the list of biggest AI stock upgrades and downgrades in July so far. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is in the third position on the list. 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.
