Conestoga Capital Advisors, an asset management company, released its “Micro Cap Strategy” fourth-quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. Despite growing by 12.70% net of fees in the fourth quarter, the strategy was unable to match the 15.64% return of the Russell Micro Cap Growth Index. Underperformance was mostly caused by poor stock selection in the Health Care and Industrials. Micro Cap Composite declined -1.02% net-of-fees, trailing the Russell Micro Cap Growth Index’s gain of 9.11% for 2023. Positive effects on sector allocation and stock selection in the technology and basic materials sectors did help the portfolio. The majority of the underperformance was mostly centered in the consumer discretionary, health care, and industrial sectors, where choosing stocks proved to be difficult. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Conestoga Capital Advisors Micro Cap Strategy featured stocks such as Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) in the fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) designs, constructs, and launches constellations of satellites. On February 16, 2024, Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) stock closed at $2.26 per share. One-month return of Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) was -0.88%, and its shares lost 51.91% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) has a market capitalization of $650.035 million.
Conestoga Capital Advisors Micro Cap Strategy stated the following regarding Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL): PL is a market leader in Earth observation data with daily satellite scans of the entire Earth that are supported by over 200 satellites. Growth has moderated this year, leading to weakness in their share price. The commercial end market has seen greater scrutiny of larger deals and its seen budgetary pressures. While growth has moderated, the company has executed well on margins and is still targeting profitability this calendar year. PL’s data set is unique and while nascently used today, we believe PL can capture the market as it matures.”
A broadband satellite hovering in the sky, highlighting the company’s satellite-based broadband communication solutions.
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. At the end of the fourth quarter, Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) was held by 11 hedge fund portfolios, up from 9 in the previous quarter, according to our database.
We discussed Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) in another article and shared the list of the best American defense stocks to buy according to analysts. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2023 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.
