ClearBridge Investments, a global equity manager, recently published first-quarter 2026 commentary for its “Large Cap Growth Strategy”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, the market experienced a significant decline in growth stocks, resulting in substantial losses. In the quarter, the S&P 500 Index fell 4.3% while the benchmark Russell 1000 Growth Index declined 9.8%, compared to the Russell 1000 Value Index’s 2.1% gain. In a volatile environment, the ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy outperformed its benchmark, benefiting from a shift away from technology and momentum stocks that led the market in 2025. The strategy saw a positive reversal in communication services and strong support from cyclical growth sectors like industrials, materials, and parts of IT. The Strategy repositioned its portfolio to increase exposure in semiconductors and biopharmaceuticals, and exited positions with turnaround delays to maintain discipline. In addition, please check the Strategy’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy highlighted stocks such as Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO). Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) is a technology company that develops analytic, software, and digital decision-making technologies and services. The one-month return of Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) was -0.14%, and its shares lost 40.97% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 8, 2026, Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) stock closed at $1,092.04 per share, with a market capitalization of $25.91 billion.
ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“The outbreak of war in the Middle East accelerated a selloff among growth stocks that started with software weakness and resulted in wide losses for the first quarter. Tax prep software maker Intuit, credit score provider Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO), cloud hyperscaler Oracle and enterprise software firm Salesforce were all impacted by a broad acceleration in the selloff among software companies feared to be disintermediated by AI. Fair Isaac, known for its FICO score, was also hurt by concerns about growing competition that we believe are overblown as the company continues to deliver considerable value to its customers.”
Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 81 hedge fund portfolios held Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 72 in the previous quarter. Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) announced first-quarter of fiscal 2026 revenue of $512 million, reflecting a 16% year-over-year growth. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) 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 Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) and shared the list of best growth stocks to buy. 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.
