Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Fund” fourth-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Global markets in 2024 exceeded forecasts, primarily due to the overwhelming success of the “magnificent seven,” or mega-cap technology stocks. Despite the concentration of gains, the optimism was fueled by the U.S. election results, solid earnings growth, and a healthy labor market. The fund returned -0.66% in the quarter trailing both the Russell 2500 Value and Russell 2500 Indices, which returned -0.26% and +0.62%, respectively. Ariel Fund increased +11.80%, outpacing the Russell 2500 Value Index’s +10.98% return and just short of the Russell 2500 Index +12.00% gain, over the trailing one-year period. For more information on the fund’s top picks in 2024, please check its top five holdings.
Ariel Fund highlighted stocks like Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL), in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) is a cruise company. The one-month return of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) was 15.82%, and its shares gained 108.92% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 28, 2024, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) stock closed at $265.25 per share with a market capitalization of $71.326 billion.
Ariel Fund stated the following regarding Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Several stocks in the portfolio had strong returns in the quarter. Global cruise vacation company, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL), advanced on another quarterly earnings beat and subsequent raise in full-year guidance. Stronger than anticipated consumer demand, healthy onboard spend, robust pricing and solid cost containment boosted results. Additionally, RCL is benefitting from several new megaships, more island destinations and a growing addressable market, including younger demographics who are “new-to-cruise.” The resiliency of the core cruise consumer, in combination with management’s superior operational expertise and revised earnings outlook, lays the foundation for RCL to sustain its powerful growth trajectory and strengthen its position as a leader in the global cruise industry.”
An aerial view of a luxurious cruise ship, surrounded by the blue horizon.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 52 hedge fund portfolios held Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) at the end of the third quarter which was 48 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) 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 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) and shared the list of best travel stocks to buy. 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.