Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its “Baron Global Advantage Fund” first quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. Baron Global Advantage Fund (the “Fund”) declined 22.8% (Institutional Shares), during the first quarter, compared to the 5.4% loss for the MSCI ACWI Index (the “Index”), and the 9.7% loss for the MSCI ACWI Growth Index, the Fund’s benchmarks. Try to spend some time taking a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.
In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Baron Global Advantage Fund mentioned EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1993, EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) is a Newtown, Pennsylvania-based software engineering company with a $16.4 billion market capitalization. EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) delivered a -56.84% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -37.08%. The stock closed at $288.50 per share on May 02, 2022.
Here is what Baron Global Advantage Fund has to say about EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:
“EPAM Systems, Inc. is a leader in software-based digital platform transformation and engineering services to business customers. The stock fell 56% during the quarter as a result of a potential business disruption from Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, where many of EPAM’s employees are based. EPAM is a U.S.-based company headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania with 53,000 employees, 24% of whom are based in Ukraine, 17% are based in Russia and 18% in Belarus. On February 17, 2022, the company reported strong financial results for calendar year 2021, releasing financial guidance for calendar year 2022 above expectations. On February 28, 2022, the company withdrew its guidance due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The magnitude and duration of the business disruption is unknown at this time. We believe EPAM is a highly resilient organization that can adapt to operational challenges by moving people and workflows to different regions — the company has further updated via an 8-K filing on April 7 that it has begun the process of exiting its operations in Russia with already a “significant number of employees who have been relocated,” while
the company is also accelerating hiring in other regions. Early research from Gartner suggests that after years of delivering high-quality products, EPAM has built solid, trustful relationships with its clients, who are responding with a high level of support for the company. EPAM has demonstrated strong execution and the ability to successfully manage through prior crises. Still, the range of outcomes is extremely wide, and we have reduced our position as a result. We continue to monitor the situation closely and reassess it as facts emerge.”
Photo by Danial Igdery on Unsplash
Our calculations show that EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) was in 38 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 42 funds in the previous quarter. EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) delivered a -40.44% return in the past 3 months.
In March 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
