Artisan Partners, an investment management company, recently shared its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter for the Artisan Small Cap Fund. The Fund focuses on investing in companies with strong earnings trajectories and trading at a discount to their estimated private market value. Despite heightened volatility and shifting sentiments influenced by various factors such as political developments, trade policies, and geopolitical tensions, the Fund managed to deliver strong absolute returns in the fourth quarter, outperforming both the Russell 2000® Growth Index and the Russell 2000® Index.
The portfolio of the Artisan Small Cap Fund performed well in the quarter across all segments, with a notable shift towards companies with durable profit cycles. However, for the full year, the Fund generated strong results but fell short of both indexes. Looking ahead to 2026, the firm remains focused on identifying profit cycles in franchise companies at reasonable valuations.
One of the highlighted stocks in the fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter was SharkNinja, Inc. (NYSE:SN). SharkNinja is a consumer products company that offers a range of cleaning, beauty, and kitchen appliances. As of March 16, 2026, SharkNinja’s stock closed at $102.95 per share, with a one-month return of -21.68% and a 52-week gain of 18.57%. The company boasts a market capitalization of $14.541 billion.
In the investor letter, Artisan Small Cap Fund mentioned its investment in SharkNinja, highlighting the company’s innovation-driven profit cycles in the consumer spending sector. Despite SharkNinja’s strong performance, the Fund decided to exit its position in line with its valuation discipline.
While SharkNinja, Inc. (NYSE:SN) is not among the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026, it was held in 77 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 71 in the previous quarter. While SharkNinja shows potential as an investment, the Fund believes that certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential with less downside risk.
For investors seeking opportunities in the AI sector, particularly in undervalued stocks that could benefit from current economic trends, exploring the best short-term AI stock could be advantageous. This report provides insights into potential investment opportunities in the AI sector that align with market trends and growth prospects.
