Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2026 investor letter for its “Artisan Small Cap Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund reported strong absolute returns and modestly outperformed the Russell 2000® Growth Index, which gained 25.7%. Global equities rebounded as resilient US growth, moderating inflation, strong earnings and continued AI investment outweighed delayed rate cuts, rising bond yields and geopolitical uncertainty. Investor Class: ARTSX, Advisor Class: APDSX, and Institutional Class: APHSX returned 26.02%, 26.05%, and 26.11%, respectively, in the second quarter, compared to a 25.71% return for the index. Market leadership favored loss-making, highly leveraged companies, creating a difficult environment for quality-focused active managers. Health care was the strongest relative contributor, while energy, materials, financials and real estate also helped. Technology, industrials and consumer discretionary detracted, partly because the fund did not own oversized index contributors. Software holdings also weakened despite strong fundamentals. The fund remains positive on small-cap opportunities, AI infrastructure and health care, but has reduced software exposure and is staying selective as valuations rise and competitive risks increase. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Artisan Small Cap Fund highlighted Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND). Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) operates as a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on developing TransCon-based therapies for unmet medical needs. On July 23, 2026, Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) closed at $252.66 per share. One-month return of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) was -2.21% and its shares gained 52.27% over the past 52 weeks. Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) has a market capitalization of $15.76 billion with 52-week trading range between $160.86 – $282.15.
Artisan Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
“Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) is a biotechnology company leveraging its proprietary TransCon® platform to develop differentiated therapies for patients with significant unmet medical needs. Recent results were mixed, with revenue below expectations but EPS meaningfully ahead, supported by R&D leverage and improving operating discipline. Importantly, patient growth for YORVIPATH® remained strong, with more than 1,000 new patients added and enrollment momentum continuing despite temporary revenue headwinds from seasonality, free drug programs and European market access. The early launch of YUVIWEL®, a treatment for a rare bone-growth disorder, also appears encouraging. SKYTROFA®, a long-acting growth hormone therapy for children with growth hormone deficiency, continues to gain share and could benefit from future label expansion. We reduced the position during the quarter after a competitor with an existing treatment for the same rare hormone disorder as YORVIPATH® filed a lawsuit against Ascendis. While we do not believe the lawsuit has merit or is likely to affect US sales, we are mindful of the distraction it could create and the potential headwind to the company’s profit cycle. We continue to maintain a large position given our conviction in Ascendis’ long-term prospects.”
Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) is not on our list of the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 47 hedge fund portfolios held Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) at the end of the first quarter which was 60 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) 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 Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Ascendis Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ASND) and shared the list of most profitable growth stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 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.
