Baron Funds, an investment management firm, released its “Baron Durable Advantage Fund” first quarter 2023 investor letter, a copy of which can be downloaded here. The Baron Durable Advantage Fund gained 16.0% during the first quarter, compared favorably to its S&P 500 benchmark which earned a 7.5% return for the same period. Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to know more about their top bets for 2023.
In its Q1 2023 investor letter, Baron Durable Advantage Fund mentioned Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 2004, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is a Menlo Park, California-based multinational technology company with a $695.7 billion market capitalization. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) delivered a 120.17% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 50.91%. The stock closed at $264.95 per share on June 09, 2023.
Here is what Baron Durable Advantage Fund has to say about Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:
“Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc., the world’s largest social network, were up 76.0% this quarter due to decisive cost discipline actions, improving adoption of new advertising products, the company’s work in generative artificial intelligence (AI), and the broader rally in technology stocks. Meta is the mega-cap technology company most focused on profitability through cost cutting, including layoffs of more than 20% of its staff and reductions in its data center and office footprint. On the top line, Meta continues growing its user base with daily average users up 5% year-over-year in the last quarter. Engagement remains healthy with impressions up 23% year-over-year, and newer advertising formats (like Instagram Reels) are reportedly picking up steam with 40% of advertisers now using Reels. Longer term, we believe Meta will utilize its leadership in mobile advertising, massive user base, innovative culture, and technological scale to sustain durable growth for years to come, with further monetization opportunities ahead in newer areas such as WhatsApp.”
Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash
Our calculations show that Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) ranks 3rd on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was in 220 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2023, compared to 194 funds in the previous quarter. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) delivered a 47.60% return in the past 3 months.
Earlier this month, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2023 page.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
