Empirical Capital Management LLC boosted its Reddit stake 1,642.2% in the second quarter, ending with 156,800 shares after adding 147,800. Reddit now accounts for 7.4% of the firm’s portfolio, leaving the stock as its 6th largest position.
156,800 Reddit shares
The filing shows how quickly a position can change size in one quarter. Empirical Capital Management LLC’s latest SEC filing put the holding at 0.08% of Reddit, valued at $27,217,000, which makes the purchase more than a casual trim or rebalance and into a meaningful commitment of capital. For a holder tracking concentration risk, that 7.4% allocation is the number that matters most.
In the same period, State Street Corp raised its stake in Reddit by 138.5% after acquiring an additional 1,178,890 shares, while Invesco Ltd. expanded its position by 419.0% earlier in the cycle. Larger owners have also taken positions, including Capital World Investors and Norges Bank, showing that Reddit has been drawing money from more than one corner of the institutional base.
July 30 earnings for Reddit
Reddit reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter on Thursday, July 30th, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.30. Revenue came in at $804.91 million, up 61.0% year over year, with a net margin of 31.35% and return on equity of 29.02%. Those figures sit behind the share buying: growth is intact, but the stock is no longer being priced only on momentum.
Cantor Fitzgerald cut its price objective from $200.00 to $170.00 on Friday, July 31st and set a neutral rating, even as Telsey Advisory Group set a $240.00 target price and UBS Group reissued a buy rating. Guggenheim also reaffirmed a buy rating, while Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a market perform rating with a $180.00 objective. Reddit’s average rating stands at Moderate Buy, with a consensus target price of $220.90.
Reddit at $153.46
Reddit stock opened at $153.46 on Thursday, below the consensus target and between its $119.27 1-year low and $282.95 1-year high. With a market cap of $29.53 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 2.03, the name is still trading like a high-variance growth stock, not a slow-moving index component. If the revenue pace holds, the new owner mix suggests institutions are still willing to absorb that volatility.
What the second-quarter filing does not answer is why Empirical Capital Management LLC lifted the position so sharply. The number says conviction, the analyst spread says caution, and Reddit’s own earnings say growth is still coming in ahead of estimates.
