Middle Coast Investing, an investment advisor firm, released its first-quarter investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Middle Coast Investing had a difficult but manageable first quarter, but everyone has suffered since the Liberation Day crash at the beginning of the second quarter. To manage the volatility, the firm decided to increase cash goal levels by roughly 5% for each portfolio. In the quarter, the firm sold 3% more than it bought. In Q1 2025, the US Portfolios returned -3.7% compared to -4.6% for the S&P 500. It’s Core U.S. portfolios returned -0.7% while Russell 2000 returned -9.8%, S&P 600 returned -9.3% and Nasdaq generated -10.4% for the same period. However, its European Portfolios appreciated by 9.2%. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its first quarter 2025 investor letter, Middle Coast Investing emphasized stocks such as Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR). Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) manufactures and distributes electrical, mechanical, safety, and infrastructure products and solutions. The one-month return of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) was -8.49%, and its shares lost 65.83% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 17, 2025, Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) stock closed at $58.50 per share with a market capitalization of $2.012 billion.

Middle Coast Investing stated the following regarding Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

"We sold just about all of our Axcelis (ACLS)position and a large chunk of our Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) position. I didn’t like the answers I had to the key questions surrounding the companies. Both hit lucky demand seams and saw huge growth in the 2020-2022 period, but are cyclical companies and haven’t maintained an edge. Axcelis sells a lot into China, which was also a major risk, but also faces overbuilding in its vertical (electric vehicles is a key driver for its products) and increased competition. We have a larger holdover Atkore position because I think it is closer to the bottom, but neither is a big position anymore."

A technician on a ladder inspecting the electrical components of an industrial building.

Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 32 hedge fund portfolios held Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 36 in the third quarter. In the fiscal first quarter of 2025, Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) reported net sales of $662 million and adjusted EBITDA of $99 million. While we acknowledge the potential of Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) 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 cheapest AI stock.

We covered Atkore Inc. (NYSE:ATKR) in another article, where we shared River Road Small-Mid Cap Value Fund's views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 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.