Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Small Cap Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In Q2, data indicated strong US economic activity and a robust labor market, while inflation gradually moved closer to the Fed’s 2% target. In the second quarter, its Investor Class fund ARTSX returned -4.45%, Advisor Class fund APDSX posted a return of -4.40%, and Institutional Class fund APHSX returned -4.38%, compared to a return of -2.92% for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. From a sector standpoint, the underperformance was due to negative security selection, while the impact of allocation was slightly positive. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to find out its best picks for 2024.
Artisan Small Cap Fund highlighted stocks like Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) manufactures and distributes synthetic DNA-based products. The one-month return of Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) was 21.39%, and its shares gained 150.94% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 29, 2024, Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) stock closed at $57.44 per share with a market capitalization of $3.345 billion.
Artisan Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Among our top Q2 contributors were Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) and Guidewire. Twist Bioscience is a life sciences company with a proprietary silicon-based platform for writing DNA. Synthetic biology is used by biotech companies looking to extend drug discovery and development capabilities as well as diagnostics companies developing methods of detecting diseases at earlier stages. Other applications include creating disease-resistant food crops and the creation of biofuels as alternatives to fossil fuels. Synthetic biology is a large and rapidly growing market, and we believe Twist is currently in the pole position. Shares outperformed after the company reported strong earnings results, including growth of 25% for revenues and 48% for orders. We added to the position.”
A scientist holding a test tube in the lab, surrounded by equipment used in synthetic biology and drug discovery.
Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 23 hedge fund portfolios held Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) at the end of the first quarter which was 17 in the previous quarter. Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) maintained its impressive growth trajectory in the first quarter 2024, with revenues of $75.3 million, up 25% year over year. While we acknowledge the potential of Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) 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 Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) and shared the list of best stocks to buy and hold for 5 years according to Cathie Wood. 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.