Is Iteris (ITI) a Recession-Proof Company?

Liberty Park Capital Management, LLC, a financial management company, released its first quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. Liberty Park Fund rose 7.45%, net of fees, in the first quarter compared to the Russell 2000 Index’s 2.74% return. The long position of the fund gained 6.02% while the short position fell 1.25% in the quarter. The long position contributed 6.16% and the short position contributed 1.08% on a weight-adjusted basis. Liberty Park Select Opportunities, LP’s value returned 0.57%, net of fees in the first quarter. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.

Liberty Park Capital highlighted stocks like Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITI) in the first quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITI) provides smart mobility infrastructure solutions. On May 02, 2023, Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITI) stock closed at $4.43 per share. One-month return of Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITI) was -3.90%, and its shares gained 48.16% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITI) has a market capitalization of $189.49 million.

Liberty Park Capital made the following comment about Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITI) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:

“Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITI) is a provider of intelligent traffic systems (ITS) to public safety agencies. The company offers a one-stop portfolio of smart cameras and sensors, software and managed services, and traffic consulting and implementation services.

Starting in the fiscal third quarter of 2022, Iteris’ sensor business began running into component shortages stemming from Chinese COVID lockdowns. ITI was forced to source components on the spot market at prices 2x-20x regular prices. Product gross margins fell from a high of 49% in 3Q:F22 to just 4% in 2Q:F23. Iteris responded by qualifying alternative component designs at new suppliers, which managed to return product gross margins to 30% by 3Q:F23. Management expects full normalization in 4Q:F23.

The margin squeeze and relative underperformance of small-cap growth stocks caused Iteris stock to fall nearly 70% from its 2021 highs. We view the sell-off as short-sighted…” (Click here to read the full text)

Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITI) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 8 hedge fund portfolios held Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITI) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 12 in the previous quarter.

We discussed Iteris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITI) in another article and shared stock picks of Andrew Wiener’s Samjo Capital. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

Suggested Articles:

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.