Ariel Small Cap Value Added Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) to Its Portfolio in Q2

Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Small Cap Value Strategy” second-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The second quarter witnessed extreme volatility. Stocks declined sharply after the “Liberation Day” tariff announcement and staged a remarkable recovery as the administration initiated a 90-day pause. In the quarter, Ariel Small Cap Value Tax-Exempt Composite appreciated +7.72% gross of fees (+7.58% net of fees) against this backdrop, compared to +4.97% and +8.50% returns of the Russell 2000 Value Index and the Russell 2000 Index, respectively. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2025.

In its second-quarter 2025 investor letter, the Ariel Small Cap Value Strategy highlighted stocks such as Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA). Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) offers enterprise asset intelligence solutions in the automatic identification and data capture solutions industry. The one-month return of Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) was -7.47%, and its shares lost 9.83% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 21, 2025, Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) stock closed at $308.51 per share, with a market capitalization of $15.686 billion.

Ariel Small Cap Value Strategy stated the following regarding Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:

Also in the quarter, we bought shares of bar-code manufacturer, Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA), which is held in other Ariel portfolios. ZBRA’s brand strength, distribution network and commitment to innovation enable it to take share, earn industry-leading profitability and penetrate new markets. A recent pullback in the stock price provided an attractive entry point. Shares have come under pressure due to investor concerns around supply chain disruptions and tariffs. At current the valuation, we think the market is underappreciating ZBRA’s alignment with the global effort to improve supply chain efficiency. At the same time, the company is leveraging the wide moat in its core business to expand into faster growing markets including warehouse robotics and machine vision. Meanwhile ZBRA continues to deliver prodigious free cash flow which we believe will continue to be deployed towards both growth and share repurchases.

Is Zebra Technologies Corporation (ZBRA) the Best Big Data Stock to Buy According to Analysts?

A tech-savvy employee testing a real-time location system in a warehouse.

Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 53 hedge fund portfolios held Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) at the end of the second quarter, which was 48 in the previous quarter. For the second quarter, Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) reported sales of $1.3 billion, a 6% increase compared to the prior year. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) 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 Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we covered Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) and shared RS Large Cap Value Strategy’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2025 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.