Why Polen Capital is Bullish on Alphabet (GOOG) and Visa (V)

Polen Capital Management, LLC, an independently-owned global investment manager, recently published its first-quarter focus growth commentary – a copy of which can be downloaded here. During the first quarter of 2020, the Polen Focus Growth Composite Portfolio returned -13.03% gross of fees, while the Russell 1000 Growth and S&P 500 indices were down 14.10% and 19.60%, respectively.

In the said letter, Polen Capital spoke about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) stocks. Alphabet is a multinational conglomerate company based in California. Visa is a multinational financial services corporation based in California. Here is what Polen Capital said:

“Alphabet, along with Facebook, and Visa, along with MasterCard, were all significant detractors in the quarter. Efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 have constrained consumer spending and restrained ad spending, resulting in a meaningful slowdown for these businesses. Visa and Mastercard have already experienced a notable decline in transaction volumes, especially in cross-border activity. That said, we expect that the slowdown will be temporary and that secular growth trends will resume, if not accelerate, when this health crisis passes. The competitive advantages of these businesses are among the strongest we have seen. Furthermore, their cash-rich balance sheets should allow these companies to continue investing for long-term growth and extend their competitive leads.”

In Q3 2019, the number of bullish hedge fund positions on GOOG stock increased by about 8% from the previous quarter (see the chart here).

In Q4 2019, the number of bullish hedge fund positions on V stock decreased by about 3% from the previous quarter (see the chart here).

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