Sustainable Growth Advisers (SGA), an investment management company, released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter for its “Global Growth Strategy.” A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The SGA Global Growth Portfolio returned -13.6% (Gross) and -13.8% (Net) compared to the MSCI ACWI return of -3.2% and the MSCI ACWI Growth return of -7.7%. AI disruption narratives significantly affected markets in the first two months of the quarter, leading to declines in software, information services, payments, and insurance brokers. In March, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East caused a spike in oil prices, contributing to market volatility and prompting investors to adopt a more cautious stance. The firm believes prioritizing high-quality businesses with strong balance sheets, durable cash flows, and diversified end markets provides resilience against short-term geopolitical shocks. In addition, you can check the Strategy’s top 5 holdings for its best picks for 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, SGA Global Growth Strategy highlighted Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) as a notable contributor. Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) is a UK-based technology company that develops and licenses central processing unit designs and related technologies for semiconductor companies and original equipment manufacturers. On June 16, 2026, Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) closed at $396.34 per share. One-month return of Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) was 54.38%, and its shares gained 171.37% over the past 52 weeks. Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) has a market capitalization of $423.322 billion.
SGA Global Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) was a top contributor to returns during the quarter. Shares responded positively following strong fiscal third quarter results, with revenue and royalty growth exceeding expectations, driven by accelerating data center adoption, and rising penetration of Arm’s CSS platform in smartphone, automotive, and infrastructure segments. Importantly, management reiterated confidence in sustaining approximately 20% royalty growth longer term, reinforcing the market’s confidence in Arm’s structural growth profile. While near term concerns around smartphone unit softness due to higher memory costs persisted, company commentary highlighted that Arm’s royalty economics are increasingly skewed toward high end devices, where royalties per unit are significantly higher, allowing royalty growth even in a declining unit environment. In parallel, investor focus sharpened on Arm’s expanding role in AI, particularly as CPUs take on a critical coordination role in agentic workflows. Growing adoption by hyperscalers, including broader use of Arm CPUs for AI adjacent workloads, reinforced this narrative. These developments reinforced our thesis that Arm is becoming a foundational architecture not only for mobile computing but also for AI driven data center, edge, and embedded applications. With strong pricing power, highly recurring revenues, and expanding royalty rates as Arm captures more value across the compute stack, we continue to view the company as a high-quality, long-term compounder well-positioned to benefit from the proliferation of AI and power efficient computing.”
Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 46 hedge fund portfolios held Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) at the end of the first quarter, compared to 33in the previous quarter. Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) reported record revenue of $1.49 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, up 20% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) 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 ARM HOLDINGS PLC (NASDAQ:ARM) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) and shared the list of stocks that absolutely exploded higher. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 15 Stocks That Will Make You Rich in 10 Years.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
