Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy” first-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the fund delivered 1.42% gross and 1.11% net of fees compared to a 7.58% return for the Russell 2000 Growth Index and a 4.77% return for the S&P SmallCap 600 Growth Index. It was a historic quarter for the Russell 2000 Growth Index as more than half of its performance was driven by Super Micro Computer and MicroStrategy. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2024.
Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy featured stocks like Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Founded in 2006, Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) is an online dating and social networking platform. On May 17, 2024, Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) stock closed at $12.30 per share. One-month return of Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) was 18.84%, and its shares lost 28.36% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) has a market capitalization of $2.146 billion.
Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“The most significant detractors from relative performance in the quarter were Super Micro Computer (not owned), Globant, and Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL). On an absolute basis, the most significant detractors were Endava, Globant, and Bumble. Bumble, a leader in the dating app segment, has been a challenging investment for some time. Given the strong and consistent 20%+ growth in the core Bumble platform, we held on to the stock. In our experience following this industry, we’ve seen it change and adapt to different generations. In our view, market concerns about penetration and slower growth were overblown. However, the business unexpectedly decelerated in the fourth quarter 2023, and the new CEO announced widespread layoffs and sweeping leadership change. Both factors drove the stock to underperform in the quarter and we sold our position. While we remain positive on many aspects of the business, we are concerned about this significant, sudden change and the rising execution risk, not to mention the recent deceleration in growth that could indicate a shift in consumer preferences. We prefer to watch from the sidelines to see how these developments play out.”
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 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 21 hedge fund portfolios held Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 28 in the previous quarter.
In another article, we discussed Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL)and shared the list of top countries with most Bumble users. 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.
