American Century Investments, an investment management company, released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter for the “American Century Investments Small Cap Value Fund.” A copy of the letter is available to download here. U.S. stocks advanced during the quarter, with large-cap stocks slightly outperforming small-cap stocks, while both groups did better than mid-cap stocks. Across all market capitalization categories, value-style stocks surpassed growth-style stocks. The economy grew at an annualized rate of 4.3% in the third quarter, compared to 3.8% in the previous quarter, and corporate earnings also showed improvement. Although inflation eased, unemployment rose to 4.6% in November. The Fund recorded a return of -1.06% (Investor) for the quarter, while the Russell 2000 Value Index returned 3.26%. This underperformance of the Fund can be attributed to both allocation choices and stock selection. Please review the Fund’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2025.
In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, American Century Investments Small Cap Value Fund highlighted Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI). Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) is a leading US-based retailer specializing in personal care and home fragrance products. On April 2, 2026, Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) closed at $18.57 per share. One-month return of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was -10.72%, and its shares lost 31.95% over the past 52 weeks. Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion.
American Century Investments Small Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI). This leading maker and retailer of home fragrance products and personal care products detracted from the results. While we believe the company’s new management can solve its growth issues, we think recovery may take longer than expected.”
Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 52 hedge fund portfolios held Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 49 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) 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 Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) and shared the list of low PE high dividend stocks to buy. 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.
