Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its “Baron Opportunity Fund” fourth quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. An increase of 3.16% was delivered by the fund’s institutional shares for the fourth quarter of 2021 but trailed the Russell 3000 Growth Index, which increased 10.89%, and the S&P 500 Index, which climbed 11.03%. For the full year 2021, the Fund gained 12.29% but underperformed the two indexes, which advanced 25.85% and 28.71%, respectively Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.
Baron Opportunity Fund, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and discussed its stance on the firm. Founded in 2003, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is a Palo Alto, California-based vehicle manufacturing company with a $935.7 billion market capitalization, and is currently spearheaded by its CEO, Elon Musk. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) delivered a -14.33% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 38.25%. The stock closed at $905.39 per share on March 18, 2022.
Here is what Baron Opportunity Fund has to say about Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:
“Tesla, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells fully electric vehicles, solar products, energy storage solutions, autonomous driving software, and battery cells. Tesla outperformed during the quarter, as the company reported stronger-than-expected results, growing vehicle deliveries over 70%, while the rest of the automotive industry experienced significant production challenges due to supply-chain constraints. Tesla also achieved a substantial improvement in profitability throughout the year, achieving record automotive gross margins (excluding regulatory credits) approaching 29%. Gross margin outperformance was driven by the growing scale of Tesla’s more efficient and lower cost factory in Shanghai, improving product mix, and pricing activity. Record gross margins, together with strong cost control, also allowed Tesla to achieve record profitability and cash flow. Despite a meaningful increase in production volumes, the company is still supply constrained, as demand for Tesla’s vehicles remains robust. Catalysts for 2022 include Tesla’s internal battery production ramp and the opening of and ramp up of new manufacturing facilities in Texas and Berlin.”
Our calculations show that Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was in 91 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 60 funds in the previous quarter. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) delivered a -2.91% return in the past 3 months.
In March 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in another article. You can find other letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
