The 2025 New York Sohn Conference wrapped up on May 14, bringing with it many interesting stock picks and ideas. Here are all the stocks that were presented at this year’s conference — with some brief tidbits about why the presenters like the stocks.
Next Wave at Sohn Conference
VictoryArc’s Joseph Talia pitched the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TLV:TASE). He said the company enjoys a monopolistic opportunity in an underdeveloped capital market. Talia sees several factors to drive double-digit top-line growth. The company has a net cash balance sheet and could be a take-out target. Talia thinks the stock can rise 3x over the next five years.
Felis Advantage’s Connie Lee offered nCino (NASDAQ:NCNO), which she said is trading at a steep discount versus peers. Over 90% of its revenue is recurring, and just 20% of possible clients have adopted the fintech’s services. Billings grew 22% YoY in the last quarter.
Kultura Capital’s Kristov Paulus suggested Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD). The company has a customer retention rate of 95% with organic new deposits up over 2x. There’s $84 trillion in wealth transfer estimated over next two decades in the U.S. Assets per funded account is up 58% YoY in the latest quarter, with transfers at 10x that level. Paulus sees a 3-6x risk/ reward.
Arene Capital’s Alexandra Engler pitched Celanese (NYSE:CE). Shares are off 24% this year as investors focused on downside earnings revisions and levered balance sheets. However, Engler sees positives from the acetyls segment amid an expected worldwide shortage. She sees 53% upside from $51.
Sohn Conference Short-selling panel
Jehoshaphat Research’s Victor Bonilla is short Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN), which has a portfolio of large, illiquid loans and equity investments. He noted strange individual markup stories, like Cody Pools, which is marked up versus its public pool competitors. Bonilla believes the dividend is under threat and pointed to unprecedented insider selling
Mink Brook Asset Management’s William Mueller is short automotive supplier Cooper-Standard Holdings (NYSE:CPS). It’s highly capital intensive with high leverage and a peak margins story. The stock soared 80% on the first-quarter beat. Sees 30/5 risk/ reward versus 25 today.
Bleecker Street Research’s Chris Drose is short Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR). The pre-revenue company is burning $750 million a year and needs to raise another $750 million to get to commercialization. Executives are also selling, and Aurora has a long history of understating its capital requirements.
Sohn Conference Afternoon session: Seth Fischer
Oasis Capital’s Seth Fischer pitched Kyocera. Despite the years-long problems, management recently started announcing targets, enabling investors to hold them accountable. Kyocera also began unloading some of its non-core businesses and plans massive share repurchases.
Fischer sees a way out of the problems if Kyocera dumps more unprofitable operations, restructures its buybacks, streamlines its product portfolio, boosts productivity, and downsizes operations.
Sohn Conference – Early afternoon lightning round
Impactive Capital’s Lauren Taylor Wolfe offered Wex (NYSE:WEX), which she said is
Rb a misunderstood impact investment with high-quality assets. She expects changes like a separation of businesses to close the gap in valuation, describing the company as a category leader with sticky revenues, high margins and a network effect, although it trades at only 8x next year’s earnings. Wolfe also said Wex is trading at a massive discount to its sum-of-the-parts valuation.
Heard Capital’s William Heard suggested Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), which he said is a misunderstood leader in digital content with lots of upside. He believes the company is well positioned to win the AI arms race, although the market has misread its approach as defensive. Adobe bought back nearly 10% of its current market cap and has $14 billion left on its buyback program. Sees upside from $400 to $700.
Infinitum Asset Management’s John Yetimoglu pitched Sea (NYSE:SE), the “Amazon of Southeast Asia,” plus the world’s most popular game and a fintech business with synergies to the e-commerce division. He believes the company is uniquely positioned to benefit from supply chain movements into Southeast Asia. Yetimoglu sees Sea’s stock more than tripling over the next three to five years.
Rubric Capital’s David Rosen offered Vivendi spinoff Canal+ (LON:CAN), which he said has a strong management team with shareholder alignment. Describing its valuation as “shocking,” he said it suggests the company is in structural decline, even though it isn’t. Rosen believes spin technical, low free cash flow conversion, corporate governance, limited post-spin financial guidance, and the pending merger with Multi-Trust are to blame for the low valuation. Insiders are aggressively buying shares. Rosen owns 9% and sees 220% to 605% upside to Canal+’s stock price.
Jonathan Lennon, Larry Robbins and David Einhorn
PLP Funds’ Lennon pitched National Vision Holdings (NASDAQ:EYE), which benefits from a replacement cycle driving inflection in the industry. New management is driving managed care monetization. Activist fund Engine Capital is involved, and National Vision could take share from competitors if tariffs rise. Lennon sees a 3x opportunity in this stock and predicts the stock will double in 2026.
Glenview Capital’s Larry Robbins likes Teva Pharmaceutical (NYSE:TEVA) and Global Payments (NYSE:GPN). Teva benefits from rising prices of generics drugs amid concerns about availability that Teva can help fill. The company also makes biosimilars, which he sees as a $100 billion opportunity. Robbins estimates Teva’s pipeline is worth $9 a share and isn’t in anyone’s numbers.
Robbins said the market didn’t like the net investment of selling Global Payments’ issuer business to FIS and buying Worldpay, which created an opportunity in the shares.
Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn pitched Lanxess (ETR:LXS), a German chemical company that owns a strong portfolio with reduced complexity and is focused on cash generation. Shares have been cut in half since Russia invaded Ukraine, triggering an energy crisis. The inventory destocking cycle that started in 2022 is nearly done. Lanxess should see tailwinds from tariffs since almost 30% of manufacturing is in the U.S. Einhorn sees €50 a share by end of 2027 with another €15 a share due to buybacks.
Sohn Conference Late afternoon lightning round
Advent Capital’s Mohammed Anjarwala offered Blue Owl Capital (NYSE:OWL), which he said is a high-growth, annuity-like business. It has high recurring revenues with long-term visibility, and Anjarwala expects its earnings to double by 2028. He sees upside from $19 to $36 a share.
Bornite Capital’s Dan Dreyfus suggested Mirion Technologies (NYSE:MIR), a radiation detection company that could benefit from President Trump’s executive order to quadruple U.S. nuclear production, implying $3 trillion to $5 trillion in spending on nuclear infrastructure. Seventy percent of Mirion’s revenues are recurring, making it essentially recession proof, and it sells to 95% of all nuclear reactors globally and the top 100 cancer centers in the U.S.
The last stock pitched at this year’s Sohn Conference was from Hiddenite Capital Partners’ Ryan Packard who pitched Comfort Systems (NYSE:FIX), an adept advantaged acquirer that’s rarely discussed. He said the company has an 18-year history of 25% CAGR and a successful track record of capital deployment and M&A. Packard expects Comfort Systems to benefit from reshoring and AI. He sees upside from $465 to $850 over two-and-a-half years.
Disclosure: I have no position in any stocks mentioned.
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