Should You Consider Selling Leslie’s (LESL)?

TimesSquare Capital Management, an equity investment management company, released its “U.S. Small Cap Growth Strategy” third-quarter investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the quarter the fund returned -3.67% (net), compared to -7.32% return for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. Year-to-date the fund returned 11.56% (net) compared to 9.59% return for the index. The third quarter saw a decline in global equities markets, but they remained positive YTD. Value has generally outperformed Growth, as demonstrated by the style factors and market indexes. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.

TimesSquare Capital U.S. Small Cap Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) in the third quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) is a direct-to-consumer pool and spa care brand. On December 6, 2023, Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) stock closed at $5.50 per share. One-month return of Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) was 23.87%, and its shares lost 56.83% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) has a market capitalization of $1.014 billion.

TimesSquare Capital U.S. Small Cap Growth Strategy made the following comment about Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:

“Our preferences in the Consumer-oriented sectors lean toward value-oriented or specialty retailers, franchise models, or premium brands. This quarter, with measures of consumer confidence and sentiment falling, we have seen many challenges in this area. For instance, the direct-to-consumer pool care products and services company Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) was down -34%. The company preannounced substantially lower revenues and earnings for the current quarter, as well as reduced its outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year. With the magnitude of the reset, the company also announced the departure of its CFO. Though we had projected some weakness in this period, this went well past our expectations. Combined with the CFO change at a difficult time for the company we sold our position.”

A close-up of a pool with freshly applied chemicals, showing the efficacy of the company’s products.

Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 18 hedge fund portfolios held Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) at the end of third quarter which was 18 in the previous quarter.

We discussed Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:LESL) in another article and shared Ariel Fund’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

Suggested Articles:

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.