Soumya Eswaran
3 min read
In This Article:
Carillon Tower Advisers, an investment management company, released its “Carillon Eagle Small Cap Growth Fund” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Small-cap stocks experienced a significant drop in Q1, with the Russell 2000 Growth Index (down 11.12%) trailing the Russell 2000 Value Index (down 7.74%). In the Russell 2000 Growth Index, real estate, which increased by 1.76%, outperformed all sectors both absolutely and relatively. The only other sector delivering positive returns was consumer staples, which rose by 0.67%. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Carillon Eagle Small Cap Growth Fund highlighted stocks such as Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK). Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) owns, operates, and licenses Shake Shack restaurants. The one-month return of Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) was 31.17%, and its shares gained 20.62% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 23, 2025, Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) stock closed at $117.62 per share with a market capitalization of $5.018 billion.
Carillon Eagle Small Cap Growth Fund stated the following regarding Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
"Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) is a fast-casual restaurant chain offering burgers, hot dogs, crinkle-cut fries, chicken dishes, milkshakes, and other beverages. The stock lagged during the period due to slightly disappointing 3-year margin guidance and a choppy first quarter in sales for the restaurant industry overall. Although investors were disappointed in the 3-year targets outlined during January’s ICR Conference, the targets seemed conservative in our view and the company highlighted potential for future growth against a challenging consumer backdrop. We remain optimistic about the company’s ability to grow units, comparable sales, and margins over the next few years."
A cook in a busy kitchen preparing a delicious cooking of burgers and fries.
Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 39 hedge fund portfolios held Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) at the end of the first quarter, which was 43 in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of 2025, Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) reported revenue of $320.9 million, representing an increase of 10.5% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the potential of Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE:SHAK) 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.
