From artificial intelligence to short trading on Bitcoin, emerging hedge fund managers touted their best ideas at the Sohn San Francisco investment conference on Tuesday. AI Ravi Paidipati of Freestone Grove Partners has picked Semtech Corporation, a so-called mixed-signal semiconductor company. The manager said Semtech will be the winner of the next generation of AI data center connectivity, which will drive accelerated growth, margin expansion and a significant earnings revision. Paidipate is optimistic about new CEO Hong Hou who has focused on internal and external execution. Investors expect 65% growth in Semtech’s EPS in the medium term with long-term earnings strength more than double the current level. Short and Long Bitcoin Trading Franklin Barlamis of Aequim Alternative Investments promotes a short trade involving Bitcoin and the strategy, which is also backed by popular short seller Jim Chanos. Parlamis’s best idea is to buy a Bitcoin ETF and short a stock strategy at the same time. Strategy owns a software and cloud company but is also a bitcoin treasury company that holds nearly $70 billion worth of the digital token. The company used leverage to accumulate its cryptocurrency holdings and traded them at a significant premium to its Bitcoin holdings. “In the strategy, you are paying roughly a 50% premium for bitcoin,” he said. E-commerce name Louis Chang of Gavilan Investment Partners has put the spotlight on South Korean e-commerce company Coupang. “Coupang is South Korea’s leading e-commerce company, not only the largest operator in South Korea, but one of the fastest growing e-commerce companies globally,” Chang said. “Nearly half of Korea’s population comes to Kupang on a regular basis.” Zhang said Coupang has created a “virtuous flywheel” for the business through its extremely customer-friendly services. Over the next three to five years, Zhang expects Coupang shares to double in its base case and triple in its bull case.
