RiverPark Advisors, an investment advisory firm and sponsor of the RiverPark family of mutual funds, released its “RiverPark Large Growth Fund” Q1 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The US stock market declined in the quarter with the S&P 500 index (“S&P”) and the Russell 1000 Growth index (“RLG”) falling 4.33% and 9.78%, respectively. Markets started the year positively but became volatile mainly due to increased tensions with Iran. The Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged in January and February. Still, rising energy prices and weaker economic data sparked concerns about stagflation, leading investors to rethink the timing and scale of future rate cuts. Investor sentiment shifted from growth and tech stocks amid inflation, interest rate, and supply chain concerns. Opposing AI-driven rotations heavily influenced investor sentiment, affecting growth stocks—enthusiasm grew for semiconductor firms linked to AI infrastructure spending, while enterprise software companies, viewed as vulnerable to AI disruption, faced pessimism. The Fund’s software holdings were sold off heavily, while the underweight in semiconductor companies, which benefited most from AI infrastructure spending, affected the performance. Despite challenges, the firm remains confident in the long-term prospects and valuations of its portfolio companies. Please review the Fund’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, RiverPark Large Growth Fund highlighted Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP). Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) is a Canada-based e-commerce technology company that provides a cloud-based platform for individuals and companies to create and manage their operations. On July 2, 2026, Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) closed at $119.46 per share. One-month return of Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) was 6.03%, and its shares lost 0.32% over the past 52 weeks. Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) has a market capitalization of $155.01 billion.
RiverPark Large Growth Fund stated the following regarding Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP): SHOP was the second-largest detractor for the quarter, declining 26%. The stock faced pressure beginning with its Q4 2025 earnings report on February 11, which investors viewed as mixed. While revenue of $3.67 billion grew 31% year-over-year and beat expectations, the company missed EPS estimates and guided Q1 2026 free cash flow margins slightly below the prior year, disappointing investors who had expected continued margin expansion. The reaction reflected a broader concern that Shopify’s profitability trajectory was moderating even as top line growth remained strong, a concern we do not share. Through the remainder of the quarter the stock was further pressured by broader risk-off selling tied to the Iran conflict and rising interest rate expectations, which amplified selling pressure across the growth equity universe.
We continue to view Shopify as a category-defining platform for global commerce, with a long runway for growth driven by its expanding ecosystem of merchant tools, international expansion, and payments infrastructure. Its consistent market share gains, growing recurring revenue from subscriptions and merchant services, and improving profitability profile support our long-term investment thesis.”
Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 88 hedge fund portfolios held Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 101 in the previous quarter. In Q1 2026, Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) generated revenue of $3.2 billion, reflection 34% year-over-year increase. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) 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 Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ:SHOP) and shared the list of most promising long-term stocks to buy according to analysts. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 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.
