Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Mid Cap Fund” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the fund’s Investor Class fund ARTMX returned -7.40%, Advisor Class fund APDMX posted a return of -7.37%, and Institutional Class fund APHMX returned -7.35%, compared to a -7.12% return for the Russell Midcap Growth Index. US equities achieved solid Q4 gains, concluding a strong year. After a period of strong growth stock performance in 2023 and 2024, value stocks gained the lead in Q1 2025. In a risk-averse environment, investors shifted towards lower-volatility equities, especially in the utilities and consumer staples sectors, alongside those with higher dividend yields. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Artisan Mid Cap Fund highlighted stocks such as AAutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO). AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) is a retailer of automotive replacement parts and accessories. The one-month return of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) was 7.90%, and its shares gained 26.25% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 5, 2025, AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) stock closed at $3,775.55 per share with a market capitalization of $63.16 billion.
Artisan Mid Cap Fund stated the following regarding AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“Among our top Q1 contributors were Spotify, Ascendis and AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO). AutoZone is a leading aftermarket auto parts retailer serving both the retail (“do-it-yourself”) and commercial (“do-it-for-me”) markets. This industry has historically grown steadily due to an aging fleet of cars and increased miles driven. These businesses generate attractive financials based on their logistics architecture and distribution scale. We believe AutoZone’s business has the potential to accelerate, driven by opening more “megahub” locations (stores that can carry a large assortment of products and are close to commercial locations), shorter delivery times and international expansion. In the recent quarter, we started to see evidence that commercial sales growth has been accelerating. In addition, we think the stock is poised to outperform in the current macro environment based on the non discretionary nature of used car auto parts and the company’s likely ability to pass through price increases related to tariffs.”
A technician in a mechanic’s uniform replacing an A/C compressor, signifying the company’s automotive replacement parts business.
AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 56 hedge fund portfolios held AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 47 in the third quarter. In the latest quarter, AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) reported total sales of $4 billion, up 2.4%. Domestic same-store sales increased by 1.9%, while international comps rose 9.5% on a constant currency basis. While we acknowledge the potential of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) and shared the list of top auto parts stocks that could surge on Trump’s auto tariff relaxation. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.