Light Street Capital Management’s long-short fund is within striking distance of the best results in its 15-year history.
The hedge fund headed by Glen Kacher added 2.53 percent in November and is up 57.14 percent for the year with one month to go, according to a person who has seen the data.
As a result, Light Street remains one of the best-performing hedge funds this year and is the top-performing fund with roots in Julian Robertson Jr.’s Tiger Management. This year’s strong results follow 2023’s 45.7 percent gain. Even so, the fund is still below its high-water mark. Its best year was 2020, when it was up 61.7 percent.
Light Street’s long-only fund gained 5.78 percent last month and is up nearly 48 percent for the year, according to the source. The disparity in performance between the two funds suggests Light Street’s long-short fund was hurt last month by its shorts, which is not surprising given the stock market’s huge gains in November. However, it is highly doubtful the long-only fund will set a record given that it was up 105 percent in 2020. It rose 58 percent in 2023.
Light Street declined to comment.
As Institutional Investor previously reported, Light Street has aggressively ridden the artificial intelligence explosion. At the end of the second and third quarters, the firm’s largest two positions — chip makers Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing — accounted for roughly 30 percent of the U.S. long stock portfolio.
In the third quarter, Light Street boosted its stake in chip maker Advanced Micro Devices by more than 50 percent, making it the firm’s third-largest U.S.-listed long. The stock is down more than 13 percent since the end of September.
Also in the third quarter, Light Street increased its stake in software company JFrog by 55 percent, making it the firm’s fourth-largest U.S.-listed long position. The stock is down about 12 percent for the year but is up approximately 25 percent from its August low. In the same quarter, the firm established a new position in GitLab, an AI-powered development, security, and operations platform, now its ninth-largest U.S. long.
On the other hand, Light Street slashed its stake by more than 40 percent in Celestica, which provides supply chain solutions. The hedge fund had established a large position in the stock in the second quarter, when it became the firm’s third-largest U.S.-listed long. The hedge fund also liquidated its stake in computer maker Dell Technologies.
