Mar Vista Investment Partners, LLC, an investment management company, released its “Mar Vista U.S. Quality Strategy” first-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. U.S. equities entered 2026 with sustained momentum, despite market leadership evolving significantly over the first quarter. Initial support in equities was hampered by tariff uncertainty, doubts about AI-driven growth sustainability, and emerging private credit concerns, before geopolitical challenges. The quarter saw the lowest performance for U.S. equities in this volatile environment, influenced by rising oil prices due to the Middle East conflict, altering inflation and interest rate expectations. The Mar Vista U.S. Quality strategy returned -7.24% net-of-fees in the quarter vs Russell 1000® Index’s -4.18% and the S&P 500® Index’s -4.33% returns. The firm believes the market is transitioning towards high-quality businesses with strong competitive advantages. Please review the Strategy’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Mar Vista U.S. Quality Strategy highlighted stocks like Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM). Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is a cloud computing company that offers Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together. On April 10, 2026, Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) closed at $164.96 per share. One-month return of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was -16.83%, and its shares lost 35.20% over the past 52 weeks. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has a market capitalization of $154.57 billion.
Mar Vista U.S. Quality Strategy stated the following regarding Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“We sold our remaining stub position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), as the range of potential outcomes has widened due to the growing risk that AI will disrupt the traditional seat-based software revenue model, despite Salesforce’s efforts to aggressively build an agentic enterprise platform. We believe the shift from a seat-based to a consumption-based model may limit long-term revenue growth, as seat-based attrition is likely to partially cannibalize the incremental revenue opportunity from consumption-based pricing. In addition, the consumption model is likely to carry a higher cost of goods sold, which could pressure margins over time. Given the uncertainty around the company’s future revenue and margin profile during this transition, we chose to exit the remaining position.”
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) ranks 28 on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 115 hedge fund portfolios held Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 119 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) 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 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) and shared the list of fastest-growing agentic AI stocks to buy. 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.
