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Appleseed Fund, an investment management company, released its third-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund’s Institutional Class generated an absolute return of 20.46% over the 12 months that ended September 30, 2024, compared to the Morningstar Global Small/Midcap Index’s 25.97% return. Appleseed Fund was positioned for an inflationary, slow-growth environment for most of the previous years. The cautious position of the Appleseed Fund prevented investment gains even while inflation levels have been lowering, and the stock market has been raging since the end of 2022. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Appleseed Fund highlighted stocks like The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) is a global manufacturer of skincare, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products. The one-month return of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) was -5.44%, and its shares lost 45.93% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On December 31, 2024, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) stock closed at $74.98 per share with a market capitalization of $26.916 billion.
Appleseed Fund stated the following regarding The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
"Appleseed Fund added four new names to the portfolio in the past six months: The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL), Willis Lease Finance (WLFC), Diana Shipping (DSX) and Gravity (GRVY). Estée Lauder is one of the world’s largest producers of cosmetics products, and valuation has become very attractive as this premier beauty company is suffering from a post-COVID-19 hangover."
A photograph of a customer testing out different products in the skincare aisle at a store.
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 49 hedge fund portfolios held The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) at the end of the third quarter which was 47 in the previous quarter. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.’s (NYSE:EL) fiscal first-quarter organic net sales decreased by 5%, aligning with the lower end of its forecasted range. While we acknowledge the potential of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) 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.