Kingdom Capital Advisors Decided to Sell its Investments in Warrior Met Coal (HCC)

Soumya Eswaran

Thu, Jun 19, 2025, 8:47 AM 3 min read

Kingdom Capital Advisors, a private investment firm, released its first-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, Kingdom Capital Advisors (KCA Value Composite) returned -7.08% (net of fees), compared to -9.48% for the Russell 2000 TR, -4.27% for the S&P 500 TR, and -8.07% for the NASDAQ 100 TR. Investors and international leaders grappled with Trump's increasing tariffs in Q1. Markets speculated on long-term business impacts, with initial market verdicts being harsh. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Kingdom Capital Advisors highlighted stocks such as Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC). Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) produces and exports non-thermal metallurgical coal for the steel industry. The one-month return of Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) was -1.98%, and its shares lost 27.85% of their value over the last 52 weeks.  On June 18, 2025, Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) stock closed at $47.01 per share, with a market capitalization of $2.471 billion.

Kingdom Capital Advisors stated the following regarding Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

"While not an easy decision, we ultimately decided to sell Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) during Q1 while we wait for the trade war to die down. China has already directly targeted US coal in their retaliatory tariffs, and with Warrior being 99% export exposed, we think there’s a decent chance met exports get worse before they get better. The US has proposed retaliatory charges on Chinese vessels, in the latest escalation of the direct impacts. Warrior remains the lowest-cost US producer, and we think they weather the storm, and respect how well Management has protected their balance sheet through the development of their new Blue Creek mine. I hope we get a chance to buy back these assets in the future with greater confidence. I think the latest round of tariff announcements will be devastating for the coal industry (as written) and want to wait before adding exposure."

An aerial shot of the Brookwood, Alabama landscape, with coal processing plants in the background.

Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 32 hedge fund portfolios held Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) at the end of the first quarter, which was 36 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) 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 undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.