Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its first-quarter 2025 investor letter for “Polen 5Perspectives Small Growth Strategy”. A copy of the letter is available to download here. Polen 5Perspectives Small Growth Composite Portfolio returned 3.3% gross and 3.0% net of fees, respectively, in the first quarter of 2026, compared to the -2.8% return of the Russell 2000 Growth Index. Small caps performed strongly at the start of the first quarter, but market volatility caused a shift in focus. Initially, fears of AI disruption in software dominated, followed by worries over private credit redemptions raising broader systemic risk concerns. By March, concerns shifted mainly to increasing geopolitical risks and their impact on rates and inflation. This heightened volatility is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The importance of adopting a flexible approach to opportunities has become clear this year. In addition, please check the Strategy’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Polen 5Perspectives Small Growth Strategy highlighted stocks such as Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) as a leading contributor. Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) is an energy company that focuses on designing and manufacturing solid-oxide fuel cell systems for clean, reliable, on-site power generation. On May 13, 2026, Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) closed at $289.76 per share. One-month return of Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) was 37.94%, and its shares gained 1,361.96% over the past 52 weeks. Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) has a market capitalization of $82.42 billion.
Polen 5Perspectives Small Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) is a provider of solid oxide fuel cells that play a critical role in delivering clean, reliable, “always on” power at scale. AI data centers require an enormous amount of power and one of the key challenges to date has been the inability of power grids to supply the necessary electricity to meet the constant and growing demands from AI workloads. Bloom’s “Energy Server” fuel cells help address this issue, generating cost-efficient, reliable power onsite, converting fuels like natural gas, biogas and hydrogen into electricity without combustion. With the high demand for always on, decentralized power solutions, Bloom stands to potentially benefit from both capacity expansions and new project wins tied to hyperscaler and industrial customers.”
Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 88 hedge fund portfolios held Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 64 in the previous quarter. In Q1 2026, Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) generated revenue of $751.1 million up 130.4% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE:BE) and shared the list of stocks Jim Cramer discussed. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
