Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter for “Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Fund seeks to invest in undervalued companies with solid financial health and compelling business economics. US equities continued to advance in the fourth quarter of 2025, despite volatility. At the start of the quarter, a government shutdown unsettled investors and delayed key economic data, raising questions about the Federal Reserve’s easing timeline. However, as the quarter progressed, risk appetite increased, and clarity around monetary policy improved, leading the Fed to implement rate cuts and end quantitative tightening. This suggests a continued easing of financial conditions into 2026. While AI remained a key focus, markets diversified in November, with value and non-AI stocks leading. This could indicate a shift in market leadership moving forward. Mid-cap stocks lagged large caps in Q4, particularly on the growth side, as the Russell Midcap® Growth Index declined 3.7% while mid-cap value posted a modest gain and outperformed the growth index for the quarter and full year. In the quarter, the fund’s Investor Class fund ARTQX returned 1.53%, Advisor Class fund APDQX posted a return of 1.54%, and Institutional Class fund APHQX returned 1.63%, compared to a 1.42% return for the Russell Midcap Value Index. Please review the Fund’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2025.
In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund highlighted Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) as its top overall contributor. Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) is an American online travel company that operates through B2C, B2B, and trivago segments. On March 31, 2026, Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) stock closed at $230.89 per share. One-month return of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) was 4.13%, and its shares gained 37.56% over the past 52 weeks. Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) has a market capitalization of $28.292 billion.
Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Online travel agency Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), our top overall contributor in Q4, drove performance in the consumer discretionary sector. Travel and leisure spending globally has secular tailwinds, and Expedia has continued to execute well. Total bookings grew 12% year over year in the company’s latest quarter, with strength across its Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo brands. Growth has been supported by supply expansion and product enhancements, with AI powering features such as property Q&A, guest review summaries and service agents. Since the COVID-driven downturn of 2020, the company has delivered strong free cash flow, while remaining disciplined in its capital allocation. In addition to a small dividend that was reinstated in 2025 after suspension during the pandemic, the company has repurchased shares at a remarkable rate, having an average annualized net buyback yield of 7.7% over the past three years.”
Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 70 hedge fund portfolios held Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 63 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) 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 Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) and shared Brown Advisory Mid-Cap Growth Strategy’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.
