Optimist Fund, an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter is available to download here. Fund performance improved significantly in Q2, achieving a return of 36.3% as tensions in Iran eased. Since inception, it has met its goal of annualized returns of 16.5%. The outlook for the next five years is optimistic, with the portfolio viewed as comprising market leaders with strong growth potential and well-aligned management teams. Additionally, reviewing the Fund’s top five holdings could help identify its best picks for 2026.
In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Optimist Fund highlighted Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA). Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) is a US-based used car retailer that operates an e-commerce platform. On August 13, 2026, Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) closed at $73.70 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $109.67 billion. Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) posted a one‑month return of 9.44%, while its shares gained 5.29% over the past 52 weeks.
Optimist Fund stated the following regarding Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
“Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) — Retail units sold continued to grow at a blistering ~40% year-over-year rate. We visited the Cleveland reconditioning center during the quarter and came away with two impressions. First, the quality of leadership below the C-suite, the ambition and energy of that group really stands out. Second, the efficiency opportunity is far from exhausted; there is still meaningful margin left to capture in operations. The stock is down ~20% this year and is trading at roughly 13x our estimate of 2027 EBITDA for a business growing organically 40% y/y which we view as a bargain. We have been adding to the position.”
Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 79 hedge fund portfolios held Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) at the end of the first quarter, compared to 100 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) 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 Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) and shared a list of best stocks to invest in under $100. In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Recurve Capital shared its optimistic views on Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA). In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 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.
