Prosper Stars & Stripes, a long/short equity fund, recently released its first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund underperformed and generated a net return of -9.7% compared to a total return of -9.5% for the long-only small cap Russell 2000 Index (the “Russell”), and a total return of 0.2% for the long/short equity hedge fund peer group represented by the HFRX Equity Hedge Index (the “HFRX”). A combination of factors led the composite to underperform compared to its net exposure at the start of the year. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Prosper Stars & Stripes Fund highlighted stocks such as Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE). Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) offers a wide range of consumer products. The one-month return of Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) was -10.72%, and its shares lost 71.90% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 16, 2025, Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) stock closed at $27.91 per share, with a market capitalization of $640.328 million.
Prosper Stars & Stripes Fund stated the following regarding Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“Additionally, it is our view that the rapidly changing supply chains are going to put upward pressure on costs for companies that source overseas and sell in America. We see exposure to this in Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE). HELE has a significant amount of supply coming from China, and we believe its competitive end markets will make for a difficult situation if prices start to rise. Additionally, we continue to see pressure on consulting firms due to the combination of expense reductions from the government and corporations, given the uncertain outlook, along with longer term questions on the value of consulting as artificial intelligence (“AI”) tools continue to improve.”
A woman in a spa setting, using Health & Wellness products.
Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 22 hedge fund portfolios held Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) at the end of the first quarter, which was 28 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) 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 undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.
In another article, we covered Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) and shared the list of best cheap stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. While we acknowledge the potential of HELE as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
