Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter for “Artisan Small Cap Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Fund seeks to invest in companies that possess franchise characteristics, with strong earnings trajectories, and are trading at a discount to the estimated private market value. Despite strong results in 2025, volatility was elevated, and sentiment shifted frequently, influenced by political developments in the US, evolving trade policy rhetoric, changing expectations for monetary policy, and ongoing geopolitical tensions. Against this backdrop, the Fund posted strong absolute returns in the fourth quarter, outperforming both the Russell 2000® Growth Index and the Russell 2000® Index. The portfolio delivered strong results in the quarter across all segments. In contrast, for the full year, the Fund generated strong results but trailed both the indexes. In Q4 2025, the market leadership shifted back to companies with durable profit cycles. Moving to 2026, the firm continues to focus on its proven technique of identifying profit cycles in franchise companies at reasonable valuations. 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 Small Cap Fund highlighted stocks like Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN). Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN) designs and distributes products and processes to offer integrated solutions for the biopharma and healthcare industries. On March 16, 2026, Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN) stock closed at $15.35 per share. One-month return of Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN) was -3.82%, and its shares are lots 29.46% over the past twelve months. Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN) has a market capitalization of $4.191 billion.
Artisan Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Among our detractors were Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN), Parsons and Guidewire. Stevanato is a leading provider of specialty glass and plastic packaging to the health care industry, as well as the leading machinery supplier to glass vial makers and fill and finish facilities. The stock was weak this quarter as the market tried to sort out the implications of Eli Lilly’s pending launch of an oral GLP-1, Orforglipron, for Stevanato’s profit cycle with respect to its vial and syringe production. We remain invested in the stock as we believe not only in the continued penetration of GLP-1 in liquid form, where titration benefits remain, but more importantly in the future increases in liquid-based biological drugs. Additionally, Medicare- and Medicaid-based coverage of GLP-1s should increase overall drug volume, regardless of average selling price pressures on GLP-1 manufacturers themselves.”
Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 15 hedge fund portfolios held Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 13 in the previous quarter. In Q4 2025, Stevanato Group S.p.A.’s (NYSE:STVN) revenue grew 7% at constant currency and 5% on a reported basis to $346.5 million. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN) 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 Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Stevanato Group S.p.A. (NYSE:STVN) and shared Conestoga Capital Advisors’ 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.
