Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its “Meridian Contrarian Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. Federal Reserve, “Fed”, reduced interest rates by 0.5% on September 18, offering much-needed relief to investors. This key decision aimed to stabilize the markets following a turbulent August filled with worries about declining job market indicators. Against this backdrop, the fund returned 6.85% (net) during the quarter underperforming the 8.75% returns of the Russell 2500 Index and 9.63% returns of the secondary benchmark the Russell 2500 Value Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Meridian Contrarian Fund highlighted stocks like Bowlero Corp. (NYSE:BOWL) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Headquartered in Mechanicsville, Virginia, Bowlero Corp. (NYSE:BOWL) operates bowling centers that provide hosting and overseeing professional and non-professional bowling tournaments and related broadcasting. The one-month return of Bowlero Corp. (NYSE:BOWL) was 13.67%, and its shares gained 17.98% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 27, 2024, Bowlero Corp. (NYSE:BOWL) stock closed at $12.47 per share with a market capitalization of $1.832 billion.
Meridian Contrarian Fund stated the following regarding Bowlero Corp. (NYSE:BOWL) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Bowlero Corp. (NYSE:BOWL) owns and operates over 350 bowling centers across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, focusing on revitalizing the bowling experience for families, corporate events, and nightlife entertainment. This strategy, which combines bowling with arcades, other amusements, and enhanced food and beverage offerings, has driven consistent growth across three distinct brands. Despite Bowlero’s strong business performance, concerns about a challenging consumer environment and weak results at Dave & Busters and TopGolf led to stock underperformance during the quarter. We continue to maintain our position, confident in Bowlero’s ongoing growth strategy.”
A large and spacious bowling alley, with lanes full of customers throwing strikes.
Bowlero Corp. (NYSE:BOWL) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 13 hedge fund portfolios held Bowlero Corp. (NYSE:BOWL) at the end of the third quarter which was 14 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Bowlero Corp. (NYSE:BOWL) 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 Bowlero Corp. (NYSE:BOWL) and shared Meridian Contrarian Fund’s views on the company in Q2 2023. 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.