First Solar, Inc. (FSLR), Groupon Inc (GRPN) Among Tiger Cub Philippe Laffont’s Small Cap Picks

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), which has risen 75% in the last year following an enormous pop in early April, was another of Coatue’s small cap picks. The manufacturer of solar modules and power systems had previously been hit hard by terrible times for the solar industry- the stock price is still down 73% from its levels two years ago, even after the rally- and it is widely shorted as well. Bullish Street expectations imply a forward P/E of only 11. Hedge funds generally didn’t like First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) in the fourth quarter of 2012; Tiger Global Management was the only other filer we track to have over $25 million invested in the company’s equity.

According to the 13F, Coatue owned a little less than 6 million shares of $3 billion market cap semiconductor company Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ:ATML) at the end of 2012. Atmel is another company which has not been doing well financially- revenue fell 10% in its most recent quarterly compared to the same period in the previous year- and the market has reacted accordingly. Wall Street analysts expect Atmel to improve, resulting in a forward P/E of 13, but we would still avoid the stock. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, increased its stake by 55% according to its own filing (research more stocks Griffin was buying).

The fund bought over 7 million shares of Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) between October and December, after not having owned any of the daily deals company at the end of Q3 2012. Groupon is still well down from its IPO price but the stock has rallied year to date as CEO Andrew Mason has departed the company. The business is still struggling with profitability, however. Even though the sell-side expects earnings per share to rise considerably over the next couple years, the forward earnings multiple is still high at 20 and we wouldn’t want to depend on their forecasts in any case.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.