Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter for the “Artisan Small Cap Fund”. A copy of the letter is available to download here. US equities were mixed in Q1 2026, with major indices hitting all-time highs in January before retreating amid geopolitical tensions, changing monetary policy, and economic uncertainty. Energy stocks surged, outpacing the market, while value outperformed growth as investors moved from tech to commodity-sensitive sectors. Market leadership broadened, with mid- and small-cap indices performing better than large caps. The Iran conflict influenced market behavior. AI-related investments supported capital spending and earnings, though investor sentiment was mixed. The portfolio saw negative absolute returns but outpaced the Russell 2000® Growth Index, offering some downside protection. Investor Class: ARTSX, Advisor Class: APDSX, and Institutional Class: APHSX returned -2.72%, -2.68%, and -2.69%, respectively, in the first quarter compared to -2.81% return for the index. The market shifted towards cyclical, commodity sectors, less aligned with high-quality franchises, due to geopolitical events and energy shocks. Despite this, many portfolio companies maintained solid earnings aligned with their profit cycles. The Firm views this environment as supportive of its stock selection approach, focused on bottom-up stock selection across industries. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Artisan Small Cap Fund highlighted stocks such as JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM). John Bean Technologies Corporation is a food processing company formed by the merger of John Bean Technologies Corporation and Marel in January 2025. On June 4, 2026, JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM) closed at $125.21 per share. One-month return of JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM) was -10.21%, and its shares gained 2.75% over the past 52 weeks. JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM) has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion.
Artisan Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM) is a leading global provider of technology solutions for high value segments of the food and beverage processing industry. We exited our CropSM position as we believe the anticipated synergies from Marel’s acquisition of JBT in early 2025 are largely reflected in the share price. In addition, we became more cautious regarding the potential impact of rising tariffs on key commodity inputs and the resulting implications for the company’s cost structure and customer base.”
JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 40 hedge fund portfolios held JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM) at the end of the first quarter, up from 30 in the previous quarter. In Q1 2026, JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM) consolidated revenue of $936 million, an increase of approximately 10% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM) 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 JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE:JBTM) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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.
