Columbia Acorn Fund, distributed by Columbia Management Investment Distributors, released its third-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the quarter, the fund returned 9.15% while the benchmark, the Russell 2500 Growth Index, returned 6.99%. A strong market rally occurred throughout the quarter, and the Columbia Acorn Fund beat its benchmark due to positive stock selection. With recoveries for smaller caps and several cyclical stocks, the third quarter witnessed a return to animal spirits following the previous quarter's more risk-averse environment. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings for its best picks for 2024.

Columbia Acorn Fund highlighted stocks Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) provides cancer screening and diagnostic test products. The one-month return of Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) was -28.85%, and its shares lost 13.14% of their value over the last 52 weeks.  On November 8, 2024, Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) stock closed at $51.48 per share with a market capitalization of $9.528 billion.

Columbia Acorn Fund stated the following regarding Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

"Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) is a leading provider of non-invasive cancer screening and therapy selection tests with stool-based test Cologuard. The stock rebounded in the quarter after underperforming last quarter, when we added to the position on weakness. Quarterly results were better than expected, including a material upside surprise on profitability. Management also provided an update for its blood-based cancer screening test, and the initial results suggest potential for equivalent performance at a better cost profile versus peers. While we continue to believe blood-based testing is inferior to Cologuard, approval of this test could accelerate the company’s revenue growth and remove a sentiment overhang. Overall, Exact Sciences remains in the early innings of penetrating a $20 billion-plus total addressable market, with potential for double-digit revenue growth and expanding margins for the foreseeable future, supported by the launch of Cologuard Plus, an even more effective test."

A research team in a laboratory discussing the results of a lab screening test for biomarkers.

Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 37 hedge fund portfolios held Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) at the end of the second quarter which was 48 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter, Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) delivered $709 million in revenues, up 13% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the potential of Exact Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) 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.