Disaster Du Jour Turns Mazama into Goat

On Wall Street, bad things happen to good people.

That could be the case with Mazama Capital, one of the finest BuySide boutiques on Wall Street.

A monster position in CROCS, Inc. prompted me to congratulate them on their pick last spring:

From what I can figure they have made at least $200 million from the position, maybe more. Good stuff for Gretchen, their consumer analyst. No doubt their mascot will be eating well too…

Alas, from what I can tell they owned it in size at the end of December and might not have materially lightened up on the position in the first quarter, turning it into a giant roundtrip.

Ten...to Seventy-five...to Ten.

Mazama had unrealized profits in the neighborhood of $400+ million in the position prior to Thanksgiving, but the position has since turned into a turkey, and the gains have evaporated.

As a vanilla, long-only shop it is unlikely they hedged the position. I hope they sold some but am hearing they stood pat. A vicious roundtrip, if it is indeed true, and none too wise.



MAZAMA, n.: A sure-footed and agile mountain goat native to the northwest mountain ranges of North America. Mazamas are frequently found navigating the highest peaks of their native terrain. Having curved black horns and rugged white hair and beard, Native Americans also called this animal the “wisdom of the mountain”.

That is one slippery mountain of a chart.

Update: With the SEI Small Cap Growth fund down six basis points on the day, and 92nd percentile, I would assume Mazama did not sell the stock out from their accounts, across the board.

Crocs getting stomped
Fortune

CROCS Inc
Major Holders

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