TimesSquare Capital Management, an equity investment management company, released its “U.S. Focus Growth Strategy” first-quarter investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the strategy returned 11.72% (gross) and 11.49% (net) compared to 9.50% for the Russell Midcap Growth Index. The first-quarter performance was barbelled, particularly for U.S. small- to mid-cap equities. The best-performing stocks were those with the highest quality (return on equity) or low valuations (price/earnings). Stocks with higher risk (beta) or stocks with hyper-growth expectations were also rewarded. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
TimesSquare Capital U.S. Focus Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) sources and distributes pharmaceutical products. The one-month return of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) was 8.13%, and its shares gained 26.05% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 21, 2024, Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) stock closed at $236.68 per share with a market capitalization of $46.609 billion.
TimesSquare Capital U.S. Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“We also benefited from the 19% gain from Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR), which distributes pharmaceutical and medical products to pharmacies, hospitals, and other health care providers. The company’s revenues and earnings bested expectations, and guidance for the current fiscal year was raised. Cencora enjoyed significant revenue growth from the U.S. Health segment—exclusive of any COVID therapies. Sales volumes increased, with notable contributions from GLP-1 sales.”
A close-up of a staff member counting pills in a pharmaceutical warehouse.
Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 56 hedge fund portfolios held Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) at the end of the first quarter which was 48 in the previous quarter. The consolidated revenue of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) for the fiscal second quarter was 68.4 billion, up 8%, with solid growth in both segments. While we acknowledge the potential of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) 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.
We discussed Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) in another article and shared TimesSquare Capital U.S. Mid Cap Growth Strategy’s views on the company. 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.