Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen Focus Growth Strategy” first-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The first quarter of 2026 was highly volatile for US equities, driven by AI disruption concerns and the US-Israel conflict in Iran and the Middle East. In this backdrop, the Polen Focus Growth Strategy declined 17.16% in the quarter, compared to a -9.78% return for the Russell 1000 Growth and -4.33% return for the S&P 500. The Strategy focuses on mission-critical businesses with recurring revenue and competitive advantages and capitalizes on the volatility to increase investments in software and semiconductor companies. The Strategy remains confident in the long-term potential of the Portfolio, emphasizing businesses with strong economic moats, robust balance sheets, and multi-year earnings growth. 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 Focus Growth Strategy highlighted NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is a leading data center-scale AI infrastructure company that operates through Compute & Networking and Graphics segments. On April 28, 2026, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock closed at $213.17 per share. One-month return of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) was 21.29%, and its shares gained 95.71% over the past 52 weeks. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) has a market capitalization of $5.18 trillion.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“At the same time, the angst around an AI bubble and the future return from the vast infrastructure investment spend has seen enthusiasm wane for the immediate beneficiaries. Take NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) for example, in their most recent earnings report during the quarter they increased revenues in excess of 70% year-over-year and delivered meaningful beats on the top and bottom lines, while significantly increasing forward guidance well above consensus estimates. Despite these stellar numbers, the market reaction was one of disinterest as their shares declined post-print and have languished since despite continued evidence showing there seems to be a long runway of outsized future growth ahead for the company.”
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is in fourth position on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 264 hedge fund portfolios held NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 234 in the previous quarter. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) reported $68 billion in revenues, marking a 73% year over year growth. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) 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 NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) 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.
