Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Partners Fund” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The first quarter of 2024 was disappointing for the fund. It declined 9.01% (institutional Shares) in the quarter trailing its primary benchmark, the Russell Midcap Growth Index (the Index), and the large-cap S&P 500 Index, which returned 9.50% and 10.56%, respectively. Over the last three years, the Fund has not advanced much. However, the Fund continues to have outstanding absolute and relative performance over the long run. Its annualized returns over the past 5, 10, and 15 years are 25.16%, 17.37%, and 20.45%, respectively, compared to the index’s annualized returns of 11.82%, 11.35%, and 15.64%, respectively. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Baron Partners Fund highlighted stocks like Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) offers mobile voice and data communications services and products. Iridium Communications Inc.’s (NASDAQ:IRDM) one-month return was -1.18%, and its shares lost 50.99% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 31, 2024, Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) stock closed at $30.11 per share with a market capitalization of $3.656 billion.
Baron Partners Fund stated the following regarding Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) is a mobile voice and data communications services vendor offering global coverage via satellite, Shares fell during the quarter. In November 2023, Qualcomm unexpectedly terminated an agreement with Iridium to enable direct-to-device (D2D) workloads on Iridium’s network. The decision shook investors’ confidence in Iridium’s D2D opportunity. In addition, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. generated limited headwinds to Iridium’s maritime segment, enhancing competitive risk. We retain conviction. Iridium remains a unique satellite asset and operator, with L-band spectrum, global coverage, years of operational experience, relatively new satellite hardware, and hundreds of partners across verticals and geographies. In addition, management announced a commitment of $3 billion in returns to shareholders between 2023 and 2030, representing a material portion of the current $3.3 billion enterprise value.”
A technician inspecting a satellite dish, highlighting the Mobile Voice and Data Services scope.
Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 29 hedge fund portfolios held Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) at the end of the first quarter which was 33 in the previous quarter.
In another article, we discussed Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) and shared Anchor Capital Management’s top stock picks in 2024. Baron Partners Fund commented about Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) in the previous quarter investor letter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 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.
