Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Small Cap Fund” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Equity markets surged at the beginning of 2024 in anticipation of the US economy entering a “goldilocks” scenario – a soft landing combined with decreasing inflation, potentially leading to a cut in interest rates by the Fed. In the first quarter, its Investor Class fund ARTSX returned 9.43%, Advisor Class fund APDSX posted a return of 9.42%, and Institutional Class fund APHSX returned 9.48%, compared to a return of 7.58% for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Artisan Small Cap Fund highlighted stocks like Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) is a diagnostics company. The one-month return of Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) was 2.26%, and its shares lost 18.69% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 24, 2024, Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) stock closed at $20.80 per share with a market capitalization of $1.59 billion.
Artisan Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Among our top detractors in Q1 were Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT), Workiva and MarketAxess. Veracyte specializes in improving diagnostic accuracy by utilizing a combination of RNA sequencing, machine learning and the company’s proprietary “field of injury” technology. For example, field of injury technology can help diagnose lung cancer by testing cells in the main airway (since it also suffers damage from smoking) instead of requiring a procedure to take a sample of the potentially cancerous nodule from the lungs. We believe Vercyte has the potential to build an annuity-like revenue stream in health care with it in the investment phase for a portfolio of genetic tests including lung, breast and thyroid cancers. These diagnostics reduce the number of surgeries performed on patients with indeterminate test results and save the health care system unnecessary overtreatment costs. Shares underperformed in the quarter given a lack of rising profitability. We remain patiently invested because it self-funds investment spending with its own cash flows. And we believe market anticipation of product launches over the next few years will prove to be a catalyst for its stock performance.”
A scientist in a laboratory coat looking at a DNA sequence on a monitor, symbolizing the power of genomic sequencing.
In the first quarter, Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) reported revenue of $96.8 million, a 17% increase compared to the previous year first quarter. This growth was primarily attributed to the 25% increase in the testing business, which significantly exceeded expectations. Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 20 hedge fund portfolios held Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) at the end of the first quarter which was 20 in the previous quarter.
In another article, we discussed Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT) and shared Next Century Growth Investors’ views on the company in the previous quarter. 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.
