Conestoga Capital Advisors, an asset management company, released its “Micro-Cap Strategy” second-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The second quarter of 2024 may be regarded as a time of moderation. Economic indicators largely reflected slowing growth and easing inflation. The moderation theme also drives equity markets. Large-cap stocks, as measured by the S&P 500, rose 3.9% in the second quarter, however, small-cap stocks lagged again, with the Russell 2000 Index declining -3.3% and the Russell 2000 Growth Index declining -2.9%. The Micro Cap Strategy declined -8.52% net-of-fees in the quarter compared to a -5.57% return for the Russell Microcap Growth Index. Underperformance was mostly caused by negative stock selection effects in the Telecommunications and industrial sectors, with Health Care being the most addictive. Sector allocation effects influenced relative returns. Also, low-beta companies with cheap multiples, the quarter’s biggest winners, were a drag on the portfolio. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Conestoga Capital Advisors highlighted stocks like Alpha Teknova, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKNO) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Alpha Teknova, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKNO) produces critical reagents for the life science market for the research, discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapies, vaccines, and molecular diagnostics. The one-month return of Alpha Teknova, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKNO) was 128.11%, and its shares gained 89.66% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 16, 2024, Alpha Teknova, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKNO) stock closed at $4.95 per share with a market capitalization of $263.85 million.
Conestoga Capital Advisors stated the following regarding Alpha Teknova, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKNO) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Alpha Teknova, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKNO): TKNO is a leading provider of critical reagents that enable the discovery, development, and production of biopharmaceutical products such as drug therapies, novel vaccines, and molecular diagnostics. Despite an earnings beat and reiteration of full year guidance, TKNO underperformed in the quarter as the group remains out of favor. The company is seeing positive momentum in biotech funding and expects a more positive second half of 2024.”
A Biopharma Scientist at a laboratory bench examining a sample under a microscope.
Alpha Teknova, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKNO) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 9 hedge fund portfolios held Alpha Teknova, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKNO) at the end of the second quarter which was 8 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter, Alpha Teknova, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKNO) delivered $9.6 million in total revenues, a 17% decrease from Q2 2023. While we acknowledge the potential of Alpha Teknova, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKNO) 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 Alpha Teknova, Inc. (NASDAQ:TKNO) and shared Conestoga Capital Advisors’ views on the company in the previous quarter. 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.
