Columbia Threadneedle Investments, an investment management company released its “Columbia Threadneedle Global Technology Growth Strategy” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the quarter, the fund returned 9.96% gross of fees and 9.72% net of fees compared to S&P Global 1200 Information Technology Index’s 12.35% return. Corporate earnings, lower interest rates, and expectations of further rate cuts, along with supportive Federal Reserve actions, led to an upward trend in stock prices. Large-cap growth stocks outperformed small-caps in the quarter. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings for its best picks for 2024.
Columbia Threadneedle Global Technology Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) offers Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together. The one-month return of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was 9.39%, and its shares gained 35.80% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 27, 2024, Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) stock closed at $276.64 per share with a market capitalization of $264.468 billion.
Columbia Threadneedle Global Technology Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“In a tough backdrop for software companies, shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) cratered after the company reported quarterly results that surprised to the downside due to a tougher spending environment. The company reported revenue growth that missed on expectations, while also lowering its outlook for revenue growth, due to a more measured buying environment from its customers. Salesforce experienced elongated sales cycles, deal compression and elevated budget scrutiny, which pushed some deals to following quarters. Taking a step back, the company’s evolving AI story should not be overlooked as it is integrated across the company’s sprawling suite of cloud and digital assets.”
A team of software developers gathered around a monitor discussing a new CRM platform.
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is in 8th position on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 117 hedge fund portfolios held Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) at the end of the second quarter which was 154 in the previous quarter. In the fiscal second quarter, Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) delivered $9.33 billion in revenue, an increase of 8% year over year. While we acknowledge the potential of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) 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 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) and shared the list of top favorite AI stocks of Brad Gerstner. Parnassus Growth Equity Fund expressed its optimism in Salesforce, Inc.’s (NYSE:CRM) ability to capitalize on emerging AI opportunities in the Q2 2024 investor letter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 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.