Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen Global SMID Company Growth” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the fund returned -8.90 (gross) and -8.96% (net) compared to -2.05% return for the MSCI ACWI SMID Capitalization Index. Uncertainty around the national elections and shifting economic expectations seemingly weighed on the equity market. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Polen Global SMID Company Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Founded in 2006, Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) is an online dating and social networking platform. The one-month return of Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) was -13.33%, and its shares lost 51.48% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 7, 2024, Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) stock closed at $8.06 per share with a market capitalization of $1.406 billion.
Polen Global SMID Company Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“We exited our position in Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL), a global leader in the mobile dating app space, due to several Flywheel violations. We initially entered this position roughly two years ago due to the founder-led management team, the robust brand of their key Bumble asset, the opportunity to expand Bumble globally, and the attractive margin and free cash flow profile. Over the last year, the founder has taken a step back from the business into an Executive Chairman role; the COO left to become CEO of another tech start-up, and a new CEO has made several material changes to the general management structure and will be introducing significant changes to the company’s core products. According to management and third-party data, the “swipe” dating apps are struggling to grow downloads in key markets and need a product refresh to reinvigorate growth, perhaps leveraging new Al technologies to enhance user experience and matching capabilities. Together, the new management team and the app “refresh” introduce a level of execution and reinvestment risk that violates our Flywheel. The company remains a leader in the dating space and highly profitable, but we believe it prudent to watch how this business evolves from the sidelines.”
A close up of two hands creating a social media post on Bumble Inc. app.
Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 30 hedge fund portfolios held Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) at the end of the first quarter which was 21 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) 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.
Polen US Small Company Growth Strategy sold its holdings in Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) in Q1 2024. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
