Artisan Partners, an investment management company, recently released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter for the Artisan Mid Cap Fund. The Fund focuses on investing in companies with strong earnings trajectories, franchise characteristics, and trading at a discount to the estimated private market value. The US equities market ended the year with record gains, with the Fund’s Investor Class delivering -0.44%, the Advisor Class delivering -0.37%, and the Institutional Class delivering -0.35% in the fourth quarter compared to -3.70% for the Russell Midcap® Growth Index. Information technology and health care sectors contributed to the Fund’s performance during the quarter.
One of the highlighted stocks in the investor letter was Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW), a cloud-based data platform company based in Bozeman, Montana. As of February 20, 2026, Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) stock closed at $172.50 per share with a market capitalization of $59.029 billion. The stock had a one-month return of -18.35% and gained 0.92% over the past 52 weeks.
In the investor letter, Artisan Mid Cap Fund mentioned their decision to end their investment campaigns in Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) during the quarter. Despite Snowflake being a leading player in data infrastructure, enabling organizations to unlock greater value from their data estates, the Fund decided to exit the position due to its elevated valuation and potential for decelerating revenue growth. The company’s reliance on structured data and the emergence of large language models for unstructured data raised questions about its value proposition, which the Fund continues to monitor.
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) is not among the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds, with 88 hedge fund portfolios holding the stock at the end of the fourth quarter. While acknowledging the potential of Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) as an investment, the Fund believes that certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential with less downside risk. For investors seeking an undervalued AI stock that could benefit from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, they can refer to a free report on the best short-term AI stock.
Overall, Artisan Partners’ decision to exit their investment in Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) reflects their commitment to actively managing their portfolio and seeking opportunities that align with their investment strategy. The Fund’s focus on companies with strong fundamentals and growth potential positions them well for future success in the dynamic market environment.
