Manole Capital Management, an investment management company, focused on covering the Financial and Technology sectors, released its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the fourth quarter investor letter, the firm highlighted its version of FINTECH, showcased unique trading process, touched on important and timely FINTECH subjects (holiday spending, legal issues, etc.), discussed some macro topics (interest rates, inflation, jobs, the Fed, etc.), and shared expectations and thoughts for 2025. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Manole Capital Management highlighted stocks like RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA), in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA) is an omnichannel marketplace that offers insights, services, and transaction solutions for buyers and sellers of commercial assets and vehicles. The one-month return of RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA) was -2.11%, and its shares gained 39.62% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 31, 2024, RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA) stock closed at $89.48 per share with a market capitalization of $16.533 billion.
Manole Capital Management stated the following regarding RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Every summer, benchmarks update their holdings and constituents. Passive managers usually try to immediately adjust their portfolios, to match these new index weightings, so they don’t have too much dispersion. On the first trading day (following these index changes), stocks impacted can get a nice, one-day pop.
Another example is RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA), which we’ve owned for over 20 years. While GICS classifies it as an Industrial company, it doesn’t create or manufacture any products. RB Global operates as a live event and online auctioneer of industrial, farm, and office equipment. RB Global is “using technology to improve an established process”, by transitioning from traditional auctions to a hybrid and online marketplace. For instance, its largest auction, held annually in Orlando, Florida, attracts global buyers and sellers. By leveraging technology, RB Global enables a broader audience (over half of its sales are from online participants) and higher transaction efficiency. Following its inclusion in the S&P 400 (mid cap) index, RB Global’s shares rose 9%, contributing to its 80% gain this year.
While it is nice to get benchmark inclusion and a one-day increase in our shares, we wanted to mention this for a different reason. We exclusively focus on the emerging FINTECH industry, but our definition remains different than the overall market’s perception of FINTECH. Both of these holdings are likely not considered FINTECH by other investors and are not owned in the market’s largest FINTECH ETF. These examples highlight our unique perspective on FINTECH, which diverges from conventional market views. Both Virtu and RB Global demonstrate how technology can transform traditional processes, embodying our FINTECH definition and unique investment approach.”
A manned excavator operating on a construction site, revealing the company’s commitment to building infrastructure.
RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 29 hedge fund portfolios held RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA) at the end of the third quarter which was 27 in the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2024, RB Global, Inc.’s (NYSE:RBA) total GTV declined by 7% and automotive GTV decreased by 1%. While we acknowledge the potential of RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA) 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 RB Global, Inc. (NYSE:RBA) and shared Meridian Funds’s views on the company in the previous quarter. 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.