Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen Focus Growth Strategy” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the fund returned -0.11% (gross) and -0.31% (net) compared to 8.33% for the Russell 1000 Growth Index and 4.28% for the S&P 500 Index. Generative AI (GenAI) remains the dominant market narrative in the second quarter. The portfolio does not own NVIDIA or other Semiconductor companies that are presently benefitting from the demand for AI hardware. However, with the portfolio’s extensive investment in software and IT services, the firm anticipates that GenAI’s long-term economic gains will go to these industries. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) offers Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together. The one-month return of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was 3.20%, and its shares gained 9.74% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 19, 2024, Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) stock closed at $247.63 per share with a market capitalization of $239.953 billion.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) declined nearly 20% due to a slowdown in revenue and bookings growth, part of a wider trend we’ve observed across enterprise software as companies defer spending on large projects given the uncertain macroeconomic environment. As mentioned, there has been an emerging narrative about prioritized spending on AI, cloud, and security over enterprise software spending that could eventually impair seat-based software over the longer term. Though there may be some near-term shifts in dollars toward GenAI, we believe the market for mission-critical enterprise software will remain robust well into the future. We will monitor the position closely, but we continue to believe that Salesforce is well-placed with its mission-critical software and high customer retention rates to weather these headwinds, lean on pricing power, and effectively monetize generative AI in its product suite.”
A customer service team in an office setting using the company’s Customer 360 platform to communicate with customers.
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is in 8th position on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 154 hedge fund portfolios held Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) at the end of the first quarter which was 131 in the previous quarter. In the fiscal first quarter of 2025, Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) delivered $9.13 billion in revenue, an increase of 11% year over year. While we acknowledge the potential of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) 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 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) and shared the list of best companies to work for in the world. ClearBridge Sustainability Leaders Strategy stated in its Q2 2024 investor letter that the Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) stock dropped in the quarter after its earnings showed slower momentum. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 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.