Ruane, Cunniff LP, an investment adviser managing Sequoia Strategy, released its Q4 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Sequoia Strategy returned 9% in Q4 compared to 2.7% for the S&P 500 Index. The Strategy delivered a return of 21.9% in 2025 versus 17.9% for the Index. In a year characterized by both strength and volatility, the Strategy outperformed the Index. The firm strives to invest in high-quality, fundamentally and financially strong businesses at reasonable prices. The Strategy is concentrated while it covers a wide range of sectors, business styles, and regions. Please review the Strategy’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2025.
In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Sequoia Strategy highlighted stocks like Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF). Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) is a US-based consumer finance company and a significant contributor to the strategy’s performance in the year. On March 27, 2026, Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) closed at $176.10 per share. One-month return of Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) was -9.38%, and its shares lost 1.78% over the past 52 weeks. Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) has a market capitalization of $109.522 billion.
Sequoia Strategy stated the following regarding Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Shares of Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) returned 38% in 2025, capping a year in which revenues grew approximately 37% and earnings per share increased approximately 40%.
The major development during the year was the May closing of Capital One’s $35 billion acquisition of Discover Financial Services. The transaction delivers clear financial benefits both through back-office cost synergies and through the ability, over time, to shift hundreds of billions of dollars of debit and credit purchase volume from Visa and Mastercard’s networks onto Discover’s network. This will allow Capital One to retain the highly attractive economics that previously flowed to third-party card networks.
Just as importantly, the transaction meaningfully improves Capital One’s strategic position in multiple respects. First, it makes Capital One the largest credit card lender in the United States, further reinforcing the company’s scale advantages. Also, Capital One will now have its own payment network, which should give the company better access to data, greater control over pricing, reduced exposure to certain debit and credit regulations, and more flexibility in the funding and structuring of rewards…”
Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) ranks 18th on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 136 hedge fund portfolios held Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 129 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) 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 Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) and shared the list of best cheapest stocks to buy on Robinhood. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 15 Stocks That Will Make You Rich in 10 Years.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
