TimesSquare Capital Management, an equity investment management company, released its “U.S. Focus Growth Strategy” first-quarter investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the strategy returned 11.72% (gross) and 11.49% (net) compared to 9.50% for the Russell Midcap Growth Index. The first-quarter performance was barbelled, particularly for U.S. small- to mid-cap equities. The best-performing stocks were those with the highest quality (return on equity) or low valuations (price/earnings). Stocks with higher risk (beta) or stocks with hyper-growth expectations were also rewarded. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
TimesSquare Capital U.S. Focus Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) is a retailer and supplier of automotive aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment, and accessories. The one-month return of O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) was 9.61%, and its shares gained 16.12% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 21, 2024, O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) stock closed at $1,081.79 per share with a market capitalization of $63.711 billion.
TimesSquare Capital U.S. Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Contributing to performance was O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY), a specialty retailer and supplier of auto parts, tools, supplies, and accessories. There were positive indications early in the quarter for sales growth within O’Reilly’s professional segment (do-it-for-me or DIFM). Mid-quarter concerns that the DIFM business might be weaker than expected because of poor weather, later cleared. O’Reilly’s shares gained 19% and made it the strategy’s top contributor.”
A mechanic working on a car in an auto shop, skillfully replacing the aftermarket parts.
O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 48 hedge fund portfolios held O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) at the end of the first quarter which was 52 in the previous quarter. The first quarter’s sales of O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) increased by $268 million, mostly due to increase in comparable store sales and non-comp contribution from shops that opened in 2023 and 2024. While we acknowledge the potential of O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) 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.
We discussed O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) in another article and shared TimesSquare Capital U.S. Mid Cap Growth Strategy’s views on the company in the previous quarter. 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.
