Wasatch Global Investors, an asset management company, released its “Wasatch Micro-Cap Value Strategy” second-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. During the second quarter, the strategy fell but significantly outperformed the benchmark Russell Microcap Index which declined -5.27%. The firm did not observe any major changes in its long-term investment position during the quarter. However, it acknowledges that the majority of equities fell as investors’ concerns about the possibility of a recession, higher-for-longer inflation, and interest rates. A small group of stocks that are thought to be doing well because of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom kept going up at the same time. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2024.
Wasatch Micro-Cap Value Strategy highlighted stocks like Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) develops, produces, distributes and supports semiconductor and thin film process equipment. The one-month return of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) was -19.83%, and its shares gained 6.97% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 9, 2024, Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) stock closed at $29.47 per share with a market capitalization of $1.673 billion.
Wasatch Micro-Cap Value Strategy stated the following regarding Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) was the top contributor to strategy performance during the second quarter. The company is a global capital-equipment supplier that designs and builds processing systems used to manufacture high-tech microelectronic devices including semiconductors, photonics, display technologies and power supplies. These devices are integral to applications like advanced computing, machine learning and AI. Veeco has exhibited solid fundamentals and a reasonable valuation for a few years. Going forward, we think the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act will create an additional tailwind for Veeco, which is one of relatively few U.S. micro-cap companies involved in semiconductor manufacturing and AI.”
A one of a kind semiconductor process equipment machine with various parts and components.
Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 24 hedge fund portfolios held Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) at the end of the second quarter which was 23 in the previous quarter. Veeco Instruments Inc.’s (NASDAQ:VECO) second quarter revenue of $176 million met expectations, representing a 9% increase from Q2 2023. While we acknowledge the potential of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) 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 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.
