Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its “Meridian Small Cap Growth Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. election results, inflation, and interest rate direction influenced markets in the quarter. This led 7.1% gain in large cap growth stocks, resulting in 33.4% annual gains. Small cap growth stocks initially surged post-election, but US Federal Reserve’s measured approach to rate cuts in 2025 and strong economic data reversed these gains. The market’s initial optimism had given way to a more cautious perspective by the end of the year. The fund returned 2.85% (net) in the fourth quarter compared to the Russell 2000 Growth Index’s 1.70% return. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Meridian Small Cap Growth Fund emphasized stocks such as Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE:SRI). Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE:SRI) is an engineered electrical and electronic systems, components, and modules manufacturer for the automotive, commercial, off-highway, motorcycle, and agricultural vehicle markets. The one-month return of Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE:SRI) was 15.96%, and its shares lost 68.95% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 10, 2025, Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE:SRI) stock closed at $5.16 per share with a market capitalization of $142.907 million.
Meridian Small Cap Growth Fund stated the following regarding Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE:SRI) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE:SRI) develops electronic safety systems primarily for automotive and commercial vehicles. The company’s stock price fell during the quarter on weak earnings as the auto supplier segment continued to struggle. While the challenges within the segment were well known to us, we were optimistic that newly released products could offset the broader weakness. However, delayed uptake of these key new products, poor execution, and a deteriorating balance sheet drove our decision to trim the position.”
A technician at a workstation, soldering electronic components for vehicle tracking devices.
Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE:SRI) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 23 hedge fund portfolios held Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE:SRI) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 14 in the third quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE:SRI) 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 Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE:SRI) and shared Meridian Small Cap Growth Fund’s views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.