Shyft Group (SHYF) Faced Cyclical Headwinds in 2023
Artko Capital, an investment management company, recently released its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the fourth quarter, an average partnership interest in the fund increased by 6.9% net of fees. However, investments in comparable indexes like Russell 2000, Russell Microcap, and the S&P 500 were up 14.0%, 16.1%, and 11.7% in the fourth quarter. For the full year, the fund was up 1.6% net of fees while comparable market indexes were up 16.9%, 9.3%, and 26.3% respectively. For more information on the fund’s top picks in 2023, please check its top five holdings.
Artko Capital featured stocks like The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) in its Q4 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Novi, Michigan, The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) is a specialty vehicle manufacturer. On March 4, 2024, The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) stock closed at $10.08 per share. One-month return of The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) was -8.70%, and its shares lost 62.22% of their value over the last 52 weeks. The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) has a market capitalization of $345.888 million.
Artko Capital stated the following regarding The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
"Much like our investment in HireQuest, 2023 was the year our long-term holding, The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF), faced cyclical headwind fears and realities, declining over 50.0% in 2023 on top of a 50.0% drawdown in 2022. What a continuous gut punch from a company whose business model we've admired since our initial investment in 2017. During this time, the company, formerly known as Spartan Motors, divested its money-losing Emergency Response segment and strengthened its Fleet Vehicle and Services (FVS) segment with tuck-in acquisitions, narrowing its focus on supplying the growing e-commerce-led parcel delivery business with its capital[1]light commercial truck and specialty vehicle assembly model. In 2021, the company, anticipating the shift to electric vehicles, launched BlueArc, an impressive commercial-class electric walk-in van and beyond.
However, since 2022, several headwinds have materialized. While the secular tailwinds of e-commerce taking share from retail continue, there is a cyclical slowdown in parcel delivery. Additionally, parcel delivery companies like UPS and FedEx recently finalized expensive labor agreements and scaled back some CapEx expenditures, such as fleet upgrades. Simultaneously, the company's production schedule for BlueArc faced a major setback as its battery supplier declared bankruptcy, later acquired by Volvo, postponing BlueArc's revenue generation to 2025. Meanwhile, product development costs continue to impact the income statement as R&D expenses, totaling $30mm annually.…” (Click here to read the full text)
An aerial view of a large harvesting field, with a fleet of vehicles in the distance.
The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. At the end of the fourth quarter, The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) was held by 18 hedge fund portfolios, down from 20 in the previous quarter, according to our database.
We discussed The Shyft Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SHYF) in another article and shared the list of stocks under $25 to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2023 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.
