Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen Focus Growth Strategy” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The market turned volatile in the third quarter. In the third quarter, the fund returned 3.21% (gross) and 2.99% (net) compared to 3.19% for the Russell 1000 Growth Index and 5.89% for the S&P 500 Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) designs, develops, and markets athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories. The one-month return of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was -6.72%, and its shares lost 27.57% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 11, 2024, NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) stock closed at $76.60 per share with a market capitalization of $114.019 billion.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“We exited our position in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) in the early part of the quarter after owning it continuously for over a decade. If we take a step back, the Nike brand has been built over many decades on product innovation and storytelling—the magic one-two punch for sustainable growth of a consumer brand. Over the last few years, it has become increasingly clear that the company has underinvested in these key areas. Results in recent quarters have been subpar due to a vacuum of new products. We expected to see a marked improvement starting with this summer’s Paris Olympics, but the demand for Nike products appears more challenged than we expected and will take longer to recover. As such, we decided to liquidate our small position, partially to fund Apple, which, conversely, is likely to see accelerating revenue and earnings growth for at least the next few years.”
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NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 66 hedge fund portfolios held NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) at the end of the second quarter which was 71 in the previous quarter. In the fiscal first quarter of 2025, NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) declined 10% on a reported basis and 9% on a currency neutral basis. While we acknowledge the potential of NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) 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 NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) and shared the list of best stocks under $100 to invest in. NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) detracted from the performance of Coho Partners in Q3 2024, due to disappointing performance. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 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.