What Made White Falcon Hold Lifecore Biomedical (LFCR)?

White Falcon Capital Management, an investment fund manager, released its first quarter 2024 investor letter.  A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The portfolio achieved a satisfactory result on an absolute basis during the quarter. In the first quarter, the fund was up 8.7% compared to a 12.8% return for the S&P 500 (CAD), 10.5% for the MSCI All Country (CAD), and 6.6% for the S&P TSX TR. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.

White Falcon Capital Management featured stocks like Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) is an integrated contract development and manufacturing organization headquartered in Chaska, Minnesota. On April 19, 2024, Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) stock closed at $6.69 per share. One-month return of Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) was 18.33%, and its shares gained 46.56% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) has a market capitalization of $200.082 million.

White Falcon Capital Management stated the following regarding Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

“The big detractors this quarter were Endava and Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR). Our laggards – Endava and Lifecore – have detracted ~ 350 bps from performance this quarter. In our FY 2023 letter, we noted our less-than-ideal experience with merger-arbitrage strategies, with Lifecore Biomedical being the sole remaining investment of this nature in the portfolio. We anticipated a positive outcome for this particular investment but that proved too optimistic when Lifecore’s board of directors decided to end the strategic process without a deal. Lifecore was also a 3% position in the portfolio and, after this announcement, the stock declined from $7.5 to $4.5 per share. However, unlike our other merger-arbitrage positions we had made the decision that we will be happy owning the stock if a deal does not materialize. We bought more shares at $4.8 per share to bring Lifecore back to a 3% position. Our average cost is $5.3 and the stock closed at $5.8 at quarter end.

Lifecore Biomedical is a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) with expertise in specialty formulation, aseptic filling, and final packaging of complex, injectable medical drug products. Our previous experience investing in similar businesses has taught us that these are very difficult to operate assets, largely attributable to a single factor – compliance. FDA grants authorization and conducts regular inspections of facilities to ensure compliance with regulatory standards. When a pharmaceutical product is developed and manufactured by a CDMO, the FDA holds both the CDMO and the sponsor (the company that owns the drug) responsible for ensuring that the product meets regulatory requirements for safety, efficacy, and quality…” (Click here to read the full text)

A chemist looking through a microscope in a research and development facility as they synthesize recombinant proteins.

Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. At the end of the fourth quarter, Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) was held by 19 hedge fund portfolios, compared to 12 in the previous quarter, according to our database.

We previously discussed Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFCR) in another article, where we shared Cove Street Small Cap Value Fund’s views on the company. 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.