Cambiar SMID Fund, managed by Cambiar Investors, published its Q1 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter is available to download here. The investor class (CAMMX) returned 2.21%, and the institutional class (CAMUX) returned 2.27%, underperforming the Russell 2500 Value Index’s 4.77%. This shortfall was mainly due to declines in certain healthcare and industrial positions and lower exposure to the top-performing Energy sector. The broader US equity market saw mixed results, with the S&P Index down 4.3% and the Russell 2000 up 0.9%. Economic headwinds included Mag 7 stocks’ high capex budgets, AI disruption fears, and redemption gates in private credit, exacerbated by the conflict in Iran, leading to a widespread drop in stock prices. Notably, value stocks outperformed growth stocks in the quarter, offering some downside protection. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Cambiar SMID Fund highlighted stocks like ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON). ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) is an American semiconductor company that provides intelligent sensing and power solutions to the automotive, industrial, aerospace and defense, medical, and communication industries. One-month return of ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) was 33.12%, and its shares gained 170.35% over the past 52 weeks. On June 3, 2026, ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) closed at $133.93 per share with a market capitalization of $52.07 billion.
Cambiar SMID Fund stated the following regarding ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) is a company we are very familiar with – having a successful ownership experience in the late 2018-mid 2022 timeframe. ON produces power semiconductors and is guided by what we view to be a best-in-class management team. The company is trading at trough margins due to an extended COVID driven inventory cycle. Successful ownership in semis is all about timing the cycle, and we believe demand trends are poised to inflect higher from current levels. ON also has an additional catalyst via an upcoming datacenter architectural shift that will represent a material increase in power semi content. If we are correct in our assessment, earnings power for ON is set to move materially higher in the coming years.”
ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 58 hedge fund portfolios held ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) at the end of the first quarter, compared to 63 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) 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 ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) and shared the list of best performing quantum computing stocks so far in 2026. 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.
