Next Century Growth Investors, LLC, an investment Management Company, released its “Small Cap Strategy” first-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The market continued its rally in the first quarter of 2024; it paused in January but resumed its upward trajectory in February and March. In the quarter the small-cap strategy generated gains from most sectors, except technology where two tech stocks contributed significantly to the index performance. Against this backdrop, the strategy returned 9.35% (net of fees) in the quarter, compared to a 7.58% return for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Next Century Growth Small Cap Strategy highlighted stocks like Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company. The one-month return of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) was -2.71%, and its shares gained 19.55% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 1, 2024, Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) stock closed at $45.03 per share with a market capitalization of $2.174 billion.
Next Century Growth Small Cap Strategy stated the following regarding Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) manufactures and sells two advanced cell therapy products: MACI is a cartilage repair product for the treatment of cartilage defects in the knee and Epicel is a permanent skin replacement in the severe burn care field. The company also licenses NexoBrid, which is used to remove eschar in patients with partial or full thickness burns. MACI, which is still <10% penetrated into a $2B addressable market, is the primary growth driver and continues to gain adoption from surgeons and patients due to strong clinical results. Epicel operates in a slower growth segment of the burn market but VCEL maintains high market share. NexoBrid, a product recently approved by the FDA, can be an incremental growth catalyst for VCEL’s burn franchise. VCEL generates solid revenue growth, healthy profit margins, and is supported by a balance sheet with $125m cash and no debt.”
A lab worker holding a vial of biopharmaceuticals for cellular therapies.
Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 17 hedge fund portfolios held Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) at the end of the first quarter which was 16 in the previous quarter. Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ: VCEL) reported a 25% increase in total revenue for the quarter, surpassing the projected guidance range. In addition, the company has raised its full-year revenue forecast to $238 million to $242 million, citing a strong start to the year. While we acknowledge the potential of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) 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.
We discussed Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL) in another article and shared The Brown Capital Management Small Company Fund’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 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.
