Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its “Meridian Hedged Equity Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the quarter, the fund appreciated 0.92% (net), trailing its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, which returned 4.28%. Also, the Fund lagged behind its secondary benchmark, the CBOE S&P 500 Buy/Write Index’s 1.49% return. The firm’s approach puts controlling negative risks ahead of pursuing excessive profits. It anticipates that capital preservation in bear markets will eventually play a significant role in the long-term compounding of returns. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.
Meridian Hedged Equity Fund highlighted stocks like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q2 2024 investor letter. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) provides consumer products, advertising, and subscription services through online and physical stores that operate through North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) segments. The one-month return of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was 11.99%, and its shares gained 53.90% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 23, 2024, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock closed at $193.88 per share with a market capitalization of $2.035 trillion.
Meridian Hedged Equity Fund stated the following regarding Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is a global technology company that operates e-commerce, cloud computing, digital advertising, and other businesses. We own Amazon because we believe it is well-positioned to benefit from several strong secular trends, including the shift to online shopping, the growth of cloud computing, and the increasing importance of digital advertising. The company exceeded expectations in the first quarter, with cloud-computing revenue growth accelerating, driven by easing cost optimization pressures and the ramp of generative AI workloads. The North American retail segment drove record operating margins, highlighting the success of Amazon’s efforts to improve efficiency and lower its cost to serve. International retail also showed promise, as emerging markets steadily progressed towards profitability. Given the strength across these key segments, we continue to hold the position in the company.”
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is in first position on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 308 hedge fund portfolios held Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) at the end of the second quarter which was 302 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) delivered $148 billion in revenue, up 11% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the potential of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) 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 Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and shared the list of best stocks to buy according to Cliff Asness. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.