Alphyn Capital Management, an investment management firm, released its third-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Master Account of the fund returned 8.9% net in the third quarter compared to 5.9% for the S&P500 Index. As of September 30, 2024, the top ten holdings accounted for approximately 71% of the portfolio, and approximately 9% of the portfolio was held in cash. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Alphyn Capital Management highlighted stocks like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q3 2024 investor letter. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) provides consumer products, advertising, and subscription services through online and physical stores that operate through North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) segments. The one-month return of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was -0.98%, and its shares gained 39.93% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 9, 2024, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock closed at $185.17 per share with a market capitalization of $1.943 trillion.
Alphyn Capital Management stated the following regarding Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Amazon.com, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) continued growth is driven by its strong performance in AWS and advertising, which grew 19% and 20%, respectively. E-commerce growth moderated to 9.3%, likely due to softer consumer demand.
In previous letters, I mentioned how Amazon’s heavy investments in logistics and fulfillment suppressed margins for some time, but the company is now reaping the rewards of those earlier expenditures. European operations have been profitable for the second consecutive quarter, while North American operating margins have risen from pandemic lows to 5.3%. A key ongoing area of focus for Amazon has been reducing the “cost to serve”; this is beginning to show tangible benefits. In 2023, Amazon undertook a “regionalization” strategy, which divided the U.S. into eight distinct regions for fulfillment and transportation, with corresponding distribution centers in each. As I learned from an expert interview done by InPractise, “regionalization” has resulted in estimated shipping expenses dropping from $4.76 per unit to $4.50, and they are now approximately $4.26, with potential reductions of 2-3% annually. Interestingly, Amazon leaned on its third-party vendors (3P) to finance much of this strategy. It did so by requiring 3P vendors ship inventory to the multiple regional distribution centers, instead of to a single location as they used to do. Moreover, Amazon imposed penalties for failing to meet strict minimum and maximum quantities. In this way, Amazon used 3P inventory to expand its distribution capacity by around 24 million square feet, much of which it could use for its own 1P inventory. Clever strategy, but one wonders if this raises the risk of an eventual vendor backlash due to the added financial and logistical pressures on 3P sellers.
Like Alphabet, Amazon is investing heavily in its AWS infrastructure to support its growing AI business. In the first half of the year, the company spent $30.5 billion on capital expenditures, with plans to exceed that in the year’s second half. When questioned about this during the earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy emphasized that they are seeing significant demand for AI-related services, which he believes will become a “very large” business for Amazon.”
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is in first position on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 308 hedge fund portfolios held Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) at the end of the second quarter which was 302 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) delivered $148 billion in revenue, up 11% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the potential of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) 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 Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and shared the list of best stocks to buy and hold for the next decade. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 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.