Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter for “Artisan Value Fund”. A copy of the letter is available to download here. The Funds’ Investor Class: ARTLX, Advisor Class: APDLX, and Institutional Class: APHLX returned -3.54%, -3.50%. and 3.50%, respectively, in Q1 vs, 2.10% return for the Russell 1000® Value Index. Performance was impacted by a market favoring momentum-driven stocks over quality factors, alongside company-specific setbacks. In Q1 2026, the US equity market showed mixed results: large-cap indices declined, while mid- and small-cap stocks gained modestly, reflecting a gradual broadening in market participation. Volatility increased, driven by concerns over artificial intelligence and private credit, and further escalated due to the outbreak of conflict in Iran. Despite uncertainty, the Fund focuses on identifying companies that can create value through cycles, particularly where market dislocations provide attractive entry points. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Artisan Value Fund highlighted stocks like SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB). SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) is a leading technology company that offers oilfield services and digital services for the energy industry. On May 22, 2026, SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) closed at $57.28 per share. One-month return of SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) was 3.71%, and its shares gained 70.17% over the past 52 weeks. SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) has a market capitalization of $85.64 billion.
Artisan Value Fund stated the following regarding SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Due to the Iran war-driven supply shock to energy markets, our top Q1 contributors were energy holdings EOG Resources, Diamondback Energy and SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB). They performed about in line with the sector, but we were overweight the sector, which helped portfolio performance. SLB is the world’s largest oilfield services company. We have stringent criteria for business quality, which is particularly important in commodity sectors, where companies do not control underlying prices and volatility can be significant. SLB has a history of successfully navigating market volatility and delivering on its free cash flow and profit margin growth objectives from a combination of activity growth and pricing gains.”
SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 73 hedge fund portfolios held SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 70 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) 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 SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) and shared Ariel Focus Fund’s views on the company. 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.
