YTD Performance and Positions

My semester at college just wrapped up and I wanted to share a portfolio update. As of this morning, my portfolio is up 40.3% YTD with 13 holdings.

The main contributors were $FTLF, $SOWG, $PBI, and $SBBC.V/$SBBCF

The biggest winner was $SOWG, which rallied nearly 200% after I wrote it up in March, only to plummet back down to $10 following an offering. I trimmed ~2/3 of my position at $17 simply because offerings are terrible news for an illiquid microcap. This turned out to be the case with shares dropping from $20 to $10 in just a few weeks. Despite that, the company had only become more attractive fundamentally, so I tripled my position at $10. Sow Good has continued to show momentum in a rapidly growing market and is far ahead of competition in terms of production quality/capacity. Furthermore, the company had a stellar earnings call where they reiterated guidance, and outlined where the company is headed for the next year. If their guidance holds true, the company could exit 2024 at a $25M EBITDA run rate, making today’s valuation at $15 a share just 6x EV/EBITDA. For a company growing triple digits annually, this leaves room for the stock price to double over the next year through multiple expansion alone.

On another note, $SBBC has performed very well with Trubar firing on all cylinders. One recent development was a private placement of $4M dollars. The dilution was somewhat disappointing, but on the bright side insiders bought 1/4^th of it. Shortly after, the company released impressive Q1 results which showed revenue growth, improved profitability, and the brand entering 5,000 more retailers this year alone. For reference, they are currently in just ~2,000 stores so if this rollout is successful, the company will undoubtedly surpass its current guidance of $40-45M. Additionally, the ecommerce channel is performing well and the CEO of Trubar hinted at significant SKU expansion through protein powders and protein cookies later this year. With PureKana officially declaring bankruptcy on April 2^nd and the recent private placement, Trubar has enough cash and corporate focus to execute for the remainder of 2024.  While Trubar remains an unproven brand with great potential, the story continues to play out and I’ll keep an eye out for more news.

Additionally, I recently entered positions in $VRME, $AWRE, and $FL. (amongst other holdings I hope to write up soon)

$VRME and $AWRE are two beaten up SAAS companies with decent balance sheets and a lot to prove. Both have had solid insider buying as well as positive recent developments. I haven’t done too much digging on these two at the moment, so they remain small positions likely to change in the future.

$FL is a hated retailer attempting a turnaround with Ulta’s former CEO Mary Dillon. While I don’t love the business in the long run, I recently picked up some shares in the low twenties. Foot Locker has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into revamping the loyalty program, remodeling stores, and bringing much needed changes to their app/website. Not only this, but they’ve also invested heavily in partnerships and marketing in a time where brands are putting more emphasis on wholesale to connect with customers. With tons of low hanging fruit and short-term industry tailwinds, the company is set up for an easy 2024 and onwards. A big question is Nike allocation, but if a brand with absolutely 0 relevance (Hibbett Sport’s) can be a valued partner at Nike, I’m sure Foot Locker will be fine. Preferably, I would have made this a pair trade (Long $FL | Short $HIBB), but with JD acquiring Hibbett’s, this is no longer possible.

Finally, if I write up a stock (e.g. $SBBC/$SOWG), I publicly post my trading activity shortly before/after simply for transparency. This blog is mostly for fun and to connect with other investors, so take everything with a grain of salt.

It’s been a great year so far and I hope to continue to share my ideas with you. Feel free to critique my writeups and share your own ideas. My DM’s are always open @DMetropolitan.

Disclaimer: I own shares in all of the aforementioned tickers. This post is not financial advice. These are my thoughts alone and should not be used as a basis for financial decisions.