Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Value Fund” third-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The equity market rally persisted in the third quarter as investors ignored tariffs, buoyed by strong corporate earnings, rising AI investment, and prospects of economic support from US fiscal policy and lower interest rates. Against this backdrop, the fund’s Investor Class ARTLX, Advisor Class APDLX, and Institutional Class APHLX returned 0.83%, 0.91%, and 0.90%, respectively, in the third quarter compared to a 5.33% return for the Russell 1000 Value Index. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2025.
In its third-quarter 2025 investor letter, Artisan Value Fund highlighted stocks such as Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM). Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) is a tobacco company that offers cigarettes and smoke-free products. The one-month return of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) was 3.14%, and its shares gained 34.20% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On December 26, 2025, Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) stock closed at $161.05 per share, with a market capitalization of $250.7 billion.
Artisan Value Fund stated the following regarding Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) in its third quarter 2025 investor letter:
“In Q3, the portfolio’s stock selection was broadly negative across sectors, reflective of the broader performance headwinds discussed earlier as our investment style was firmly out of step with the market. However, our biggest source of underperformance was the consumer staples sector as we had a number of laggards, including Kerry Group, Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM)l and Diageo.
Philip Morris came off its highs of the year but remains one of our top contributors to returns over the year-to-date and one-year periods. PMhashadsuccesstransitioning its product portfolio away from traditional cigarettes—a category in steady decline—by focusing on potentially less harmful smoke-free products that offer superior growth. Its smoke-free product platform is led by IQOS, a heat-not burn tobacco alternative, and Zyn nicotine pouches. Since its 2022 acquisition of Zyn maker Swedish Match, a company we previously held in the portfolio, popularity of Zyn pouches has surged, helped by free advertising from social media influencers and Philip Morris’ ability to leverage its global scale and distribution. We believe Philip Morris still has significant runway for growth in the US—the world’s most profitable nicotine market and one that makes up less than 10% of PM’s revenues. Looking at Philip Morris through our margin of safety criteria, the business trades for an undemanding valuation and has extraordinary business economics and a strong credit profile.”
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 90 hedge fund portfolios held Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) at the end of the third quarter, compared to 111 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) 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 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) and shared the list of some of the best blue-chip stocks to invest in. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 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.
