Will FTAI Aviation Ltd. (FTAI) Benefit from Positive Catalysts?

Tourlite Capital Management, an investment management firm, released its first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Markets were under pressure during the first quarter due to Trump’s tariff announcement. The increased uncertainty following Liberation Day led to significant declines in several of the fund’s event-driven and value positions. Tourlite Fund, LP returned -4.6% for the first quarter of 2025. Since its inception, the fund has achieved annualized returns of 7.5%, compared to 9.0% and 0.5% for the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 Indexes, respectively. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Tourlite Capital Management highlighted stocks such as FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI). FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) owns and acquires aviation equipment for the transportation of goods and services. The one-month return of FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) was 2.35%, and its shares gained 38.70% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 10, 2025, FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) stock closed at $121.13 per share with a market capitalization of $12.423 billion.

Tourlite Capital Management stated the following regarding FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“We believe FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) has multiple positive catalysts in the coming months, including PMA approval and continued progress on its Strategic Capital Initiative (SCI). Through its first SCI fund, FTAI raised $4 billion in debt and equity to acquire mid-life aircrafts, targeting a $30 billion market opportunity as lessors look to offload older assets in favor of newer models. FTAI has become a go-to buyer for these transactions, and under this structure, it also secures the associated engine maintenance contracts and is expected to contribute approximately $200 million in incremental annual aerospace EBITDA by 2026 once fully ramped.

In January 2025, FTAI was targeted by a short report alleging that it is merely a leasing company disguising itself as an aftermarket business through questionable accounting practices. We strongly disagree. In our view, FTAI is a value-added aftermarket maintenance business that adheres to industry-standard leasing accounting. Notably, the report failed to mention the SCI, which we believe is a transformative driver of long-term value.

Given the recent pullback in stock price, the overlooked value of SCI, and multiple upcoming catalysts, we believe FTAI is well-positioned for continued outperformance.”

FTAI Aviation Ltd. (FTAI): Among Billionaire Quants’ Two Sigma’s 10 Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential

A team of airline employees surrounded by flight deck controls, with a variety of aircraft outside.

FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 49 hedge fund portfolios held FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) at the end of the first quarter, which was 54 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) 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 FTAI Aviation Ltd. (NASDAQ:FTAI) and shared Crossroads Capital’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 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.