Here’s What Lifted Woodward (WWD) in Q3

Harbor Funds, an investment management company, released its Q3 2025 investor letter for “Harbor Mid Cap Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Harbor Mid Cap Fund primarily focuses on investing in equity securities, targeting common and preferred stocks of mid-sized U.S. companies. Global equities rebounded strongly in the third quarter, fueled by inflation easing, resilient economic data, and some of the most disruptive trade measures were eased or postponed. The fund returned 4.19% in the quarter, trailing the 8.53% return for the Midcap Index due to momentum trading. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its third-quarter 2025 investor letter, Harbor Mid Cap Fund highlighted stocks such as Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD). Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) designs and develops control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets. The one-month return of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) was 5.27%, and its shares gained 83.79% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On December 24, 2025, Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) stock closed at $313.87 per share, with a market capitalization of $18.831 billion.

Harbor Mid Cap Fund stated the following regarding Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in its third quarter 2025 investor letter:

“Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) contributed to performance. Woodward is a leading supplier of controls used in aircraft engines, aerospace, and industrial and energy markets. The firm reported better-than-consensus earnings, revenue, and earnings before interest and taxes margins in the most recent quarter. Within the aerospace segment, there was strong demand for new defense equipment and higher commercial aftermarket/maintenance activity, as more legacy aircraft continue to be utilized for longer periods of time. The company was also able to demonstrate its continued share gains and margin expansion in commercial aircraft engines through its transformation from a component to a systems supplier. We believe that the commercial aerospace manufacturing industry has still not fully recovered from the depths of the pandemic lows. Future earnings visibility and potential for further margin expansion will likely come with the continued rebound in commercial airline manufacturing and content share gains.”

Why Woodward Inc (WWD) Is Surging In 2025?

Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 52 hedge fund portfolios held Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) at the end of the third quarter, compared to 54 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) 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 Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we covered Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) and shared Artisan Mid Cap Fund’s views on the company. 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.