Impinj, Inc. (PI): Cinctive Capital Management Is Bullish on This Stock Right Now

We recently compiled a list of $3 Billion Hedge Fund’s Top 10 Stock Bets. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Impinj, Inc. (NASDAQ:PI) stands against the other stock bets of a $3 billion hedge fund.

Cinctive Capital Management is a hedge fund specializing in long/short equity strategies. Based in New York City's Hudson Yards, its founders and industry veterans, Richard Schimel and Larry Sapanski, aim to redefine the multi-manager model with an evolved approach to portfolio management. The firm provides a multi-manager investment platform to its investors combining fundamental stock picking with proprietary quantitative tools with a focus on scrupulous risk management practices to ensure robust investment strategies. According to Schimel, “Cinctive is the evolution of the experiences Larry and I had over the past two decades.”

Richard Schimel and Lawrence Sapanski founded Cinctive Capital Management in 2019. Since its inception, the hedge fund's assets have nearly quadrupled. Sapanski and Schimel have worked together for 14 years. Back in 2005, Larry also co-founded Diamondback Capital, managing significant assets in financials, energy, bonds, and macro strategies. In the early 2000s, Rich Schimel and Lawrence Sapanski worked for Steve Cohen's SAC Capital Advisors. They founded Diamondback Capital Management in 2005, which managed $5.8 billion in assets. However, the firm closed in 2012 due to client withdrawals following a non-prosecution agreement related to an insider trading investigation. However, the government later dropped the agreement and Diamondback was refunded the $9 million after the conviction was tossed out.

In addition to managing and founding Cinctive Capital Management and the aforementioned ventures, both the Co-Founders and Co-CIOs have held many distinctive roles in the past. Richard Schimel was a Senior Managing Director and Head of Aptigon Capital at Citadel. He also served as Chief Investment Officer at Sterling Ridge Capital Management, which he founded in 2013. Schimel holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan. Larry Sapanski also brings over 30 years of investment management experience to the Cinctive family. Larry Sapanski paved a similar path for himself like his fellow Richard Schimel before co-founding Cinctive. He started a hedge fund called Scoria Capital (2013-2017) where he served as CIO, overseeing trading, risk exposures, and a best ideas portfolio. Larry Sapanski has held various trading roles at London Bishopgates International, Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley. Sapanski graduated from St. John's University with a B.S. in Accounting.

According to the Form ADV filed on March 2024, Cinctive Capital Management disclosed that they are serving 8 clients with discretionary assets under management totaling $3,019,428,000. Their most recent 13F filing for Q4 2023 revealed managed 13F securities amounting to $1,505,809,649, with a top 10 holdings concentration of 17.76%.

Currently, Cinctive Capital Management has been successful in betting on artificial intelligence in energy, technology, and utility sector-related stocks as it ended the first half of the year gaining 11%. Its performance has also been noteworthy while betting in other sectors such as Financials, healthcare, and biotech thereby beating other big multi-strategy hedge funds, such as Citadel and Millennium. The successful track record at Diamondback has allowed Rich Schimel and Lawrence Sapanski to draw noteworthy interest from institutional investors for their venture, Cinctive Capital Management. This achievement comes despite the broader hedge fund industry's increased scrutiny from investors over subpar returns.

Our Methodology

Stocks mentioned in this article were picked from the investment portfolio of Cinctive Capital Management at the end of the first quarter of 2024. Schimel and Sapanski's top 5 stock picks returned an average of 11% since the end of the first quarter, vs. 4% gain for the broader indices for large-cap stocks.

A close-up of a computer engineer working on the code for a cloud connectivity platform.

Impinj, Inc. (NASDAQ:PI)

Return since Q1 End: 21.8%

Impinj, Inc. (NASDAQ:PI) reported strong financial results in the first quarter as its revenue and profitability exceeded both Q4 2023 results and Q1 guidance. Impinj, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:PI) revenue increased 9% sequentially to $76.8 million for the first quarter of 2024 from $70.7 million in Q4 of 2023, but weakened by 11% year-over-year from $86.0 million in Q1 2023.

According to the Regulatory filings, Cinctive Capital Management owned 306,964 shares in Impinj, Inc. (NASDAQ:PI) at the end of first quarter of 2024 worth over $39 million, representing 1.83% of the portfolio. Based on the hedge funds database being tracked by Insider Monkey, Point72 Asset Management is a leading shareholder in Impinj, Inc. (NASDAQ:PI) with 459,465 shares worth over $58 million.

Wasatch Micro Cap Value Strategy stated the following regarding Impinj, Inc. (NASDAQ:PI) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

“Impinj, Inc. (NASDAQ:PI), a pioneer in helping develop the “Internet of Things,” was also a contributor. The company provides an infrastructure by which items in storage or in transit—such as car parts and even shipping containers— communicate over the internet. Impinj deploys wireless inventory management and tracking platforms for customers in retail, manufacturing, health care and other areas. The company also provides tiny radio-frequency identification chips to connect, count and track individual items. Early in 2023, the stock fell due to a slowdown in platform deployments and chip orders. The slowdown occurred because customers had previously obtained extra inventory based on fears of Covid-related supply-chain disruptions. More recently, the stock has rebounded on reports of solid revenues and profitability that have exceeded expectations. Additionally, management has expressed optimism that Impinj’s long-term business opportunities remain intact. While our positive assessment of the company is unchanged, we sold some shares because we’ve learned from experience to trim our position on strength and add on weakness.”

Overall PI ranks 3rd on our list of the best stocks to buy according to a $3 billion hedge fund. You can visit $3 Billion Hedge Fund’s Top 10 Stock Bets to see the other stocks that are on hedge funds’ radar. While we acknowledge the potential of PI as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some 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 more promising than PI but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

 

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