Should You Sell QuidelOrtho Corporation (QDEL)?

Chartwell Investment Partners, LLC, an affiliate of Carillon Tower Advisers, Inc., released the “Carillon Chartwell Small Cap Growth Fund” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter of 2024, the U.S. economy showed signs of moderate growth, with indications of an upturn towards the end of the period. The Federal Reserve sees the economic performance as a “Goldilocks” scenario, balanced, with slowing demand, moderate wage pressure, and strong job growth. Future economic trends will determine interest rate decisions. High levels of fiscal spending, new home construction, industrial investments, and moderate wage growth are expected to support economic expansion over the near term. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.

Carillon Chartwell Small Cap Growth Fund highlighted stocks like QuidelOrtho Corporation NASDAQ:QDEL), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) is a diagnostic testing solutions provider. The one-month return of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) was -24.73%, and its shares lost 59.53% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 25, 2024, QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) stock closed at $32.90 per share with a market capitalization of $2.203 billion.

Carillon Chartwell Small Cap Growth Fund stated the following regarding QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

"QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL), a diagnostic healthcare product manufacturer, was a weak performer as its fourth-quarter earnings missed expectations. We sold our position, given the inability of the management team to set realistic growth expectations, which led to high quarterly volatility."

A scientist observing the results of a molecular diagnostic test.

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 28 hedge fund portfolios held QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) at the end of the first quarter which was 32 in the previous quarter. In the first quarter 2024, QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) reported revenue of $711 million, down from $846 million in the first quarter 2023. While we acknowledge the potential of QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) 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.

We discussed QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) in another article and shared Meridian Small Cap Growth Fund’s views on the company. In the first quarter The Brown Capital Management Small Company Fund sold its stake in QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL). In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 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.