Stock Analysis Compilation

HFBestIdeas.com is now live. It’s free (for now), you just need to create an account. Two main features: 1️⃣ Access to 1,000+ quarterly fund letters 2️⃣ Around 500 stock pitches extracted from fund letters each quarter

Oakmark Global Fund's latest quarterly letter — key takeaways: • **Equity markets are increasingly influenced by short-term noise, geopolitical headlines, and extreme stock dispersion; positioning emphasizes patience and intrinsic-value discounts.** • Portfolio is concentrated on value opportunities where long-term fundamentals drive expected returns, demonstrating a willingness to buy into multiple compression and conservative guidance. • Regional exposure is predominantly in the U.S. and Europe ex-U.K., with modest investments in Asia ex-Japan and emerging markets; South Korea and Switzerland provided positive contributions, while the U.S., France, and Netherlands detracted. • Energy and industrials emerged as the largest contributors in the quarter; notable contributors included Samsung Electronics, Glencore, and ConocoPhillips, while information technology and consumer discretionary were the largest detractors, with companies like Dassault Systèmes, Gartner, and Capgemini negatively impacting performance. • Managers highlight a Memory supercycle and AI-driven chip shortages as key drivers for Samsung, suggesting 2026 could be its most profitable year for memory products. • Regarding Dassault Systèmes, despite recent de-rating, managers assert that the “SaaSpocalypse” narrative mischaracterizes the company's durable competitive advantages due to its physics-based simulation and multimodal AI capabilities. • New buys include Compass Group (resilient outsourced foodservice), Hamamatsu Photonics (dominant photon-detection franchise), Netflix (scale and content economics as a competitive moat), and SAP (ERP leader benefiting from cloud migration, with AI risk viewed as overstated). • Recent exits include a full sale of Ryanair Holdings and Warner Bros Discovery. Read the full letter → hfbestideas.com/letters?open=B…

35 pitches found in hedge fund reports this week : (link in bio) 🔹 AmpliTech Group (AMPG US) by Deep Sail Capital 🔹 AppLovin Corporation (APP US) by Bristlemoon Capital 🔹 Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (300750 CH) by Munro Climate Change Leaders Fund 🔹 CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA (EVD GY) by Acatis 🔹 Edwards Lifesciences Corp (EW US) by Artisan Global Opportunities Strategy 🔹 Eurobank SA (EUROB GA) by Ariel Global 🔹 Hangzhou First Applied Material (603806 CH) by Guinness China A Share 🔹 Harbor Diversified (HRBR US) by Cedar Creek Partners 🔹 Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HE US) by Horizon Kinetics 🔹 Hemnet Group AB (HEM SS) by Bristlemoon Capital 🔹 Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (388 HK) by Longriver 🔹 Infineon Technologies AG (IFX GY) by Ariel International Developed Markets 🔹 Insmed Inc (INSM US) by Artisan Global Discovery Strategy 🔹 KKR & Co., Inc. (KKR US) by Akre Capital 🔹 Luotea (LUOTEA FH) by Pontus 🔹 Minimax Group Inc (100 HK) by Artisan Developing World Strategy 🔹 Net Lease Office Properties (NLOP US) by Kingdom Capital Advisors 🔹 Perma-Fix Environmental (PESI US) by White Brook Capital 🔹 Ranger Energy Services, Inc. (RNGR US) by Riverwater Micro Opportunities 🔹 RBC Bearings Inc (RBC US) by Artisan Global Discovery Strategy 🔹 Roblox Corp (RBLX US) by Artisan Global Opportunities Strategy 🔹 Rohm Co Ltd (6963 JP) by Artisan Non-U.S. Small-Mid Growth Strategy 🔹 Roper Technologies, Inc. (ROP US) by Oakmark Equity and Income Fund 🔹 Rotork plc (ROR LN) by Artisan Non-U.S. Small-Mid Growth Strategy 🔹 Sanara Medtech (SMTI US) by White Brook Capital 🔹 ServiceNow Inc (NOW US) by Nightview Capital 🔹 SK Hynix Inc. (000660 KS) by Ariel Emerging Markets Value ex-China 🔹 Smiths Group plc (SMIN LN) by Artisan Non-U.S. Small-Mid Growth Strategy 🔹 Spotify Technology SA (SPOT US) by Artisan Global Discovery Strategy 🔹 Stella-Jones (SJ CN) by Upslope Capital 🔹 Unity Software (U US) by White Falcon Capital 🔹 Visa Inc. (V US) by Appalaches Capital 🔹 Wavestone (WAVE FP) by Acatis 🔹 Weichai Power (000338 CH) by Guinness China A Share 🔹 Yubico (YUBICO SS) by Pontus

Oakmark International Fund on Coupang, Inc. $CPNG US Thesis : Coupang, Inc. is South Korea's leading e-commerce platform with a vertically integrated logistics moat enabling share gains and margin expansion, now available at an attractive valuation post-cyber incident. Extract from their Mar 26 letter

Nightview Capital on why Tesla $TSLA is their largest position: Our conviction in Tesla is not a function of its near-term automotive results, which remain subject to meaningful cyclical and competitive pressures. It is a function of what we believe Tesla is actually building: an AI and robotics company that happens to currently generate most of its revenue from selling cars. The energy business, the Full Self-Driving platform, and the emerging Optimus humanoid robot program represent option value that, in our view, the market continues to dramatically underprice. We are long-term holders.

Horizon on earnings surprise : More than 300 of the S&P 500 companies (67% by market cap) have now reported this earnings season. On average, those companies’ earnings have been a whopping 20.2% higher than Wall Street analysts and investors had expected. While that number could fall somewhat as the remaining companies report, it’s far and away the best quarterly result we’ve seen in the past two years

Neuberger remain bullish on global equities : Indeed, while some may be tempted to view the equity market as overbought as the S&P 500 hits fresh highs two months into an ongoing Iran conflict and continued disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, we believe the data argues otherwise. Corporate earnings are robust across numerous sectors and geographies, in some areas approaching a run rate in excess of 20% growth, according to FactSet. More broadly for economic growth, our own research indicates AI infrastructure alone is contributing an estimated half a percentage point to U.S. GDP growth. This tailwind of investment is likely to persist for the duration of 2026, as shown by Amazon and Meta recently nudging their capex guidance higher. Demand for AI is also being validated, given signs of near-term capacity constraints and emerging pricing power among AI providers. Importantly, on geography, non-U.S. equities led by roughly 11 percentage points in the first two months of 2026. Since then, the U.S. has outperformed by around six percentage points—a gap that has persisted even as the geopolitical situation partially de-escalated. What began as a safe-haven rotation is now being driven by the earnings trajectory.

Ariel Global on Bayer AG $BAYN GY Thesis : Bayer AG is a life sciences leader with potential upside from litigation resolution and a strengthening pharma pipeline, marking the early stages of a turnaround. Extract from their Mar 26 letter

Longriver Partners Fund's latest quarterly letter — key takeaways: • **Q1 drawdown attributed to a late-March market sell-off influenced by the war in Iran and an oil shock; the Fund has since recovered most of that loss, reflecting a long-term, real-estate-like holding mindset.** • **Hong Kong's structural repositioning is underway with the return of southbound/mainland capital via Stock Connect and a 2025 IPO surge, enhancing HKEX's role for Chinese companies and increasing liquidity for new-economy listings.** • Recent HKEX reforms (FINI, faster listing timelines, and proposals to loosen thresholds) have improved market plumbing, which favors brokers with superior product and distribution capabilities. • **Demographic trends show mainland talent and students being attracted to Hong Kong, bolstering housing and consumer demand while benefiting capital/talent/tech-exposed sectors over local incumbents and commercial retail.** • Greater Bay Area planning and deeper mainland integration are reshaping pricing and competition, benefiting finance, trade, and tech hubs, while exerting deflationary pressure on sheltered local businesses and some commercial real estate tenants. • Futu's operational scale and internationalization have significantly improved, with funded accounts and client assets growing 2x–3x since 2022, now with 55% of funded accounts located outside Hong Kong and Singapore. • **Futu presents a compelling monetization opportunity with a large user funnel (c.29m users), high wallet-share potential, fast-growing wealth management, and substantial derivatives/margin financing take rates, alongside a strong role in IPO distribution.** • Key risks for Futu include sensitivity to market turnover and rates, competition from global players such as Interactive Brokers and Robinhood, and constraints on mainland access; current valuations reflect cyclical skepticism. • The manager emphasizes a concentrated, long-only global equity portfolio (10–20 names), with a focus on owner-operator alignment, margin-of-safety investing, and durable business franchises rather than short-term market timing. Read the full letter → hfbestideas.com/letters?open=Q…

Bretton Fund doesn't believe AI will disrupt the moats of Visa, Mastercard, or American Express: As we mentioned above, American Express was our biggest detractor in the quarter due to concerns about AI replacing payment systems. The payments space is enormously attractive since it grows with overall spending plus the secular shift from physical cash and checks. Not surprisingly there are plenty of entrants looking to break in. At heart, the core card companies—Visa, Mastercard, American Express—are digital infrastructure companies. They process massive volumes of transactions in real time. They ensure that the vendor gets their money, the customer gets their product, and if something fails along the way, it is made right. Visa and Mastercard leave the customer credit function to their partner banks; American Express acts as both the payment system and the bank for their cardholders who carry balances. The market is deeply concerned that AI will disrupt the card business. We are AI optimists, but it is not clear to us that AI is a threat here. Suppose we send our AI agent out to buy running shoes. It is much more resourceful and patient than we are. It isn’t limited to big American retailers; it can track a specific shoe to a Finnish specialty store or Japanese enthusiast; it can calculate exchange rates and shipping duties and delivery times. And in theory, it could finalize this purchase using some kind of AI-to-AI payment mechanism, maybe using crypto, circumventing the traditional card network. While this might be technically feasible, we’re skeptical it will be widely adopted. The card networks are unrivaled in speed, flexibility, and, most importantly, fraud prevention and exception handling. In the payments world, there are “high trust” transactions between two parties who know and trust each other. Think paying your babysitter, splitting a meal with friends. These types of transactions can be handled using simple bank-to-bank transfers through platforms created by governments and bank consortia (Zelle in the US, Wero in Europe, Pix in South America) or private systems that run on top of these networks, like PayPal and Venmo. But the vast majority of the payments we make are considered “low trust,” even with relatively trusted businesses like Amazon. We take for granted that if we buy something online and it never shows up, we can call our bank, tell them what happened, and be fully refunded. And from the merchants’ perspective, if a customer wants to make a large purchase that will take time to pay off, credit cards can pay the merchant immediately while the cardholder pays the balance over time. Then there are “exceptions”— accidentally charging a customer twice, the wrong currency, returns, typos—and card networks handle these seamlessly countless times a day. This is a complex, smoothly running ecosystem and the main reason simple bank transfers—much less crypto transactions—haven’t displaced cards. AI can do a lot, but we don’t think it can recreate the network effects and massive ecosystem that the card companies have created. The most likely outcome is that AI systems—much like browsers and phones did when they were introduced—will simply use their operators’ card information to pay for things.

Korean stocks have been a hot topic on FinTweet since IBKR opened the gates last week. Here are the Korean stocks discussed in recent funds' quarterly reports: 🔹 Third Point on SK Square: SK Square Co., Ltd. is a Korean tech holding company trading at a large NAV discount with catalysts from buybacks, governance reforms, and the value and ADR listing of its main asset SK Hynix. 🔹 Artisan Non-U.S. Growth Strategy on MNC Solutions: MNC Solutions provides mission-critical power and automation for defense infrastructure with resilient demand, long-term contracts, and ~20% growth potential. 🔹 Artisan International Explorer Strategy on Vitzrocell: Vitzrocell Co Ltd is a leading primary lithium battery producer gaining share with quality and serving smart meter and defense demand, supporting double-digit growth at a reasonable valuation. 🔹 Antipodes Emerging Markets Fund on Hyundai Motor Company: Hyundai Motor is expanding hybrids and EVs, benefiting from reduced tariff risk and optimized production while gaining share in North America. 🔹 Baron International Growth Fund on Samsung Electronics: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is the global memory leader poised to benefit from AI-driven HBM demand, a strong memory upcycle, and improving foundry competitiveness. 🔹 Artisan Sustainable Emerging Markets Strategy on Naver Corp: Naver Corp. is a leading Korean internet platform leveraging AI and a broad ecosystem to drive enhanced services and new enterprise revenue streams for long-term growth. 🔹 AVI Global Special Situations on Youngone Corporation: Youngone Corporation is a leading OEM producer of premium technical outerwear with durable cost advantages and sticky customer relationships, trading at a low valuation with potential governance-driven re-rating. 🔹 Artisan Sustainable Emerging Markets Strategy on SK hynix: SK hynix Inc is a leading memory chipmaker positioned to benefit from AI-driven demand through high-bandwidth memory leadership, improving pricing, and strong financial discipline. 🔹 Polen Emerging Markets Growth on Hugel Inc: Hugel Inc. is a South Korean leader in botulinum toxin and fillers with attractive valuation, cost-efficient production, and anticipated U.S. approvals to drive international growth.

Cedar Grove's latest quarterly letter — key takeaways: • **Manager emphasizes a focus on quality companies at reasonable prices, avoiding macro forecasts and daily trading noise.** • Launched a long-biased multi-strategy SMA in mid-Jan 2026, using shorts selectively to target overearning or operationally impaired names. • Deployed capital primarily into consumer discretionary and healthcare/biotech sectors, actively **avoiding crowded AI trades** to capitalize on mispriced small- and micro-cap opportunities with improving fundamentals. • Recent indiscriminate selling due to a **geopolitical escalation (Iran/Strait closure)** led to heavy near-term mark-to-market losses despite constructive company results in February/March. • Realized losses by exiting short positions in Hims & Hers (HIMS) and WW International due to deteriorating fundamentals, including weak guidance and unexpected subscriber declines. • Core holdings include Evolv Technologies (EVLV) for its AI-enabled SaaS security with significant ARR, The RealReal (REAL) for its growth in second-hand luxury, and Sanuwave (SNWV) for its promising wound-care device with clarified CMS guidance. • Special situations focus includes Abivax for its promising P3 UC data, Nektar for its attractive safety profile in new treatments, and MTY Food Group, which shows improving conditions amid reported buyer interest. • Strong emphasis on conviction-driven positions and reallocating based on management changes or operational deteriorations, maintaining a fee structure of 1.0% management fee plus 20% performance fee above the Russell 2000 benchmark. Read the full letter → hfbestideas.com/letters?open=R…

Their full letter is here : hfbestideas.com/letters?open=3…

Appalaches Capital sold ASML $ASML : It seems to me that we would need ASML to nearly triple their earnings over the next five years to receive a satisfactory return, assuming a reasonable valuation on those earnings. It is possible for this to happen since EUV orders are rising quickly, but uncertainty does not seem to be on our side at this price. Higher prices have a way of turning uncomfortable uncertainties into meaningful uncertainties.

Acatis' bull thesis on Baker Hughes, Halliburton and Schlumberger : After spending years to cut global upstream investments to approximately USD 350 billion, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger and Halliburton are now reaping the benefits from the enormous recovery in global demand. Particularly the potential redevelopment of the dilapidated infrastructure in Venezuela, which is estimated to cost more than USD 100 billion, offers disproportionate growth potential for these technology leaders. The required upgrades to secure global oil production mean that these companies are ideally positioned from a strategic point of view.

East 72 Dynasty Trust's latest quarterly letter — key takeaways: • **Q1 2026 showed violent, sector-specific dislocations**, particularly in software/SaaS and alternative asset managers, while energy and rates fluctuated significantly amid Middle East tensions. • Strength of the Australian dollar in Jan–Feb (+7% trade-weighted) **impacted A$-denominated returns**, leading to volatility and influencing the fund's portfolio positioning. • The fund **reduced its holdings to 22**, exiting positions in Carlyle, Vivendi, and other firms to avoid perceived value traps and **increased weights in high-conviction names**. • Top-ten positions, including Virtu Financial and HAL Trust, **represent a meaningful share of NAV**, while the fund maintains ~3.5% net cash, emphasizing concentrated, conviction-driven bets. • Investment strategy focuses on **companies with capital management or structural changes** that can unlock value, favoring assets with potential NAV uplifts over passive buybacks. • Deep dive on HAL Trust reveals **substantial upside potential if Boskalis and other unlisted assets are marked to market**, indicating a significant discount to intrinsic value. • Special dividend mechanics and Pershing Square's proposal for UMG could **re-shape balance sheet and governance for Bolloré/Compagnie de L’Odet**. • Thematic conviction in the **financialisation trend** highlights advantages for liquidity providers and market-making franchises due to increased retail participation and explosive ETF growth. • Key idea — Virtu Financial: The manager believes **Virtu's strategy shift towards retaining more capital** will lead to higher adjusted net trading income, as consensus is seen as overly cynical regarding future upside. Read the full letter → hfbestideas.com/letters?open=P…

Link to the full letter : hfbestideas.com/letters?open=o…

Akre Capital on the threat of AI to their software holdings, specifically Constellation Software $CSU : We have written and spoken extensively about the threat of AI on our software businesses (Constellation Software, Topicus, Roper Technologies, ServiceNow, and Salesforce) and information services businesses (Moody’s, CoStar, CCC Intelligent Solutions, Fair Isaac Corp). While we have not owned the AI “poster children” (e.g. chips, chip equipment and memory makers, etc.) our portfolio is not anti-AI; quite the opposite. We believe the businesses listed above stand to be enormous beneficiaries of AI tools and efficiencies without incurring or depending upon the enormous buildout costs associated with AI infrastructure. Unlike past seismic shifts in technology—the internet, cloud, mobile computing—we do not believe that AI presents a classic “innovator’s dilemma” for adaptive and already-advantaged software and information services businesses. We see large-language models (LLMs) and AI-based coding tools and their derivations as powerful but largely commoditized, price competitive, with low switching costs, making them an important source of value enhancement for high-quality incumbent software and information services businesses at a manageable cost. For example, the largest performance detractor in the Fund over the past year ended March 31 has been Constellation Software, the stock, down 44.63% in US dollar terms. In stark contrast, Constellation Software, the business grew free cash flow per share more than 26% in 2025. To us, this deviation between plummeting valuation and strong fundamentals makes a better argument for Constellation shares being cheap than it does for a permanently impaired outlook. Which is why we have held on to Constellation shares.

35 pitches found in hedge fund reports this week : (link in bio) 🔹 AJ Bell plc (AJB LN) by Vltava Fund 🔹 AUB Group Limited (AUB AU) by Ganes Focused Value Fund 🔹 Bayer AG (BAYN GY) by Ariel Global 🔹 Becle S.A.B. de C.V. (CUERVO* MM) by Longleaf Partners Small Cap Fund 🔹 Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. (BIO US) by Ariel Focused Value 🔹 Coupang, Inc. (CPNG US) by Oakmark International Fund 🔹 Cushman & Wakefield plc (CWK US) by Riverwater Small Cap Strategy 🔹 DTS Corporation (9682 JP) by Oakmark International Small Cap Fund 🔹 ENGIE SA (ENGI FP) by Ariel Global 🔹 FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS US) by Ariel Focused Value 🔹 Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO US) by Bristlemoon Capital 🔹 GE Vernova Inc (GEV US) by Mar Vista U.S. Quality 🔹 Generac Holdings, Inc. (GNRC US) by Ariel Mid Cap Value 🔹 Hamamatsu Photonics (6965 JP) by Oakmark Global Fund 🔹 Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. (HHH US) by Symmetry Invest 🔹 IMCD N.V. (IMCD NA) by Fiduciary Management 🔹 Intuit Inc. (INTU US) by WS Lindsell Train North American Equity Fund 🔹 Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (JKHY US) by Riverwater Sustainable Value Strategy 🔹 Keysight Technologies, Inc. (KEYS US) by Ariel Mid Cap Value 🔹 Kuaishou Technology (1024 HK) by Ariel Emerging Markets Value 🔹 Leggett & Platt, Inc. (LEG US) by Riverwater Sustainable Value Strategy 🔹 LSB Industries, Inc. (LXU US) by Riverwater Micro Opportunities 🔹 Medical Facilities Corp. (DR CN) by Greystone Capital Partners 🔹 MGM Resorts International (MGM US) by Symmetry Invest 🔹 Minor International PCL (MINT TB) by Oakmark International Small Cap Fund 🔹 PHI Group (PHIG US) by Cedar Creek Partners 🔹 Rayonier, Inc. (RYN US) by Longleaf Partners Fund 🔹 Red Violet, Inc. (RDVT US) by Riverwater Micro Opportunities 🔹 Roku, Inc. (ROKU US) by Saga Partners 🔹 Salesforce (CRM US) by Oakmark Global Select Fund 🔹 SAP SE (SAP GY) by Oakmark International Fund 🔹 Sprout Social (SPT US) by Pernas Research 🔹 Steele Bancorp (STLE US) by Cedar Creek Partners 🔹 The Walt Disney Company (DIS US) by KNA Capital 🔹 Xiamen Faratronic Co., Ltd. (600563 CH) by Ariel International DM EM

Sandstone’s 4-page bull thesis on Doordash $DASH : hfbestideas.com/letters?open=u…

Leaven Partners' latest quarterly letter — key takeaways: • **The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in March emerged as the dominant macro shock, significantly disrupting physical oil and LNG supplies to Asia.** • Japan, heavily reliant on Middle Eastern oil, executed its largest-ever release from strategic petroleum reserves; however, the manager expresses concern over Japan's uncertain near-term economic outlook given reserves are merely a temporary buffer. • As oil prices spiked and equity markets declined in early March, the fund implemented a systematic hedge in response to market volatility, adhering to its established rules rather than attempting to predict the conflict's resolution. • The fund maintains short positions to provide immediate downside protection while strategically targeting undervalued equities for long-term growth. • Emphasizing valuation discipline, the manager views market volatility as an opportunity but warns that overpaying poses a greater risk to long-term returns than the volatility itself. • The manager advocates for a patient, process-oriented approach, emphasizing a commitment to a disciplined, long-horizon strategy aligned with investor interests. • Notable operational terms that enhance manager-investor alignment include no management fee, a 25% performance fee over a 6% hurdle with a high-water mark, and a 3-year initial lockup period, which also impacts liquidity considerations. • Heightened geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility are acknowledged as significant risks, with hedging and careful position sizing employed as strategies to bolster portfolio resilience. Read the full letter → hfbestideas.com/letters?open=5…