Wasatch Global Investors, an asset management company, released its “Wasatch Small Cap Growth Strategy” second-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Small-cap stocks experienced the most gains in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, with names linked to the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) leading the market. However, most equities fell in the second quarter of 2024, even while those who benefited from AI remained strong. Small-cap benchmarks consequently showed negative returns for the period. During the quarter, the Wasatch Small Cap Growth strategy declined and underperformed the benchmark Russell 2000? Growth Index, which fell -2.92%. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.

Wasatch Small Cap Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (NYSE:SITE) in its Q2 2024 investor letter. SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (NYSE:SITE) is a wholesale distributor of landscape supplies. The one-month return of SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (NYSE:SITE) was 2.48%, and its shares lost 10.67% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 13, 2024, SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (NYSE:SITE) stock closed at $141.04 per share with a market capitalization of $6.364 billion.

Wasatch Small Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (NYSE:SITE) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

"SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (NYSE:SITE) was also a major detractor. The company is a one-stop shop primarily for professional landscapers. At Wasatch, we’ve owned SiteOne for several years. In 2020 and 2021, the company and its stock benefited from customers ramping up home improvements during the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing real-estate boom. Since the end of 2021, the stock has been up and down largely based on interest-rate and real-estate speculation. During the second quarter, the stock was hurt by slightly higher-than-expected expenses and news that Home Depot has become more active in targeting landscaping professionals. While we take this competitive threat seriously, we haven’t seen any erosion in SiteOne’s revenues."

A bustling warehouse bustling with packages and parcels moving through the supply chain.

SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (NYSE:SITE) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 22 hedge fund portfolios held SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (NYSE:SITE) at the end of the second quarter which was 24 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter of 2024, SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (NYSE:SITE) reported a net sales increase of 4% to $1.41 billion (see the details here). While we acknowledge the potential of SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. (NYSE:SITE) 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.