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 SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI) is a public safety technology company. The one-month return of SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI) was 2.39%, and its shares lost 30.81% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 16, 2024, SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI) stock closed at $14.15 per share with a market capitalization of $181.028 million.
Conestoga Capital Advisors stated the following regarding SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI): SSTI is a leading public safety technology company focused primarily on law enforcement. SSTI reported inline results during the second quarter, with revenue and gross margins reaching the highest level in two years. SSTI’s stock has been weak since Brandon Johnson was elected Mayor of Chicago in April 2023. Despite potentially losing the Chicago contract, SSTI has executed well, launching in over a dozen new cities and expanding its technology platform to layer in future growth opportunities.”
An aerial view of a city showing the presence of public safety solutions such as Shot Spotter All in One.
SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 7 hedge fund portfolios held SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI) at the end of the second quarter which was 7 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI) reported $27 million in revenues, a 22% increase over Q2 2023. While we acknowledge the potential of SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI) 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 SoundThinking, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSTI) 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.
