Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter for “Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Fund seeks to invest in undervalued companies with solid financial health and compelling business economics. US equities continued to advance in the fourth quarter of 2025, despite volatility. At the start of the quarter, a government shutdown unsettled investors and delayed key economic data, raising questions about the Federal Reserve’s easing timeline. However, as the quarter progressed, risk appetite increased, and clarity around monetary policy improved, leading the Fed to implement rate cuts and end quantitative tightening. This suggests a continued easing of financial conditions into 2026. While AI remained a key focus, markets diversified in November, with value and non-AI stocks leading. This could indicate a shift in market leadership moving forward. Mid-cap stocks lagged large caps in Q4, particularly on the growth side, as the Russell Midcap® Growth Index declined 3.7% while mid-cap value posted a modest gain and outperformed the growth index for the quarter and full year. In the quarter, the fund’s Investor Class fund ARTQX returned 1.53%, Advisor Class fund APDQX posted a return of 1.54%, and Institutional Class fund APHQX returned 1.63%, compared to a 1.42% return for the Russell Midcap Value Index. Please review the Fund’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2025.
In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund highlighted NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) as one of its leading contributors. NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) is a leading provider of equipment, technology and expertise to the oil and gas industry. On March 31, 2026, NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) closed at $18.81 per share. One-month return of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) was -3.59%, and its shares gained 22.94% over the past 52 weeks. NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion.
Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Our top performers in the energy and financials sectors were NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV), a provider of oilfield equipment, technology and expertise, and First Citizens, a North Carolina-based bank. NOV’s quarterly earnings exceeded expectations on the back of strong execution and margin improvement in its energy equipment segment, which more than offset softer conditions in shorter cycle businesses. Free cash flow generation was particularly strong, reflecting both higher profitability and ongoing working capital efficiency gains. Capital allocation remains shareholder-friendly, with NOV continuing to return excess cash through dividends and share repurchases while maintaining a conservative balance sheet, with low net leverage and ample liquidity. From a valuation perspective, its shares trade at a discount to historical and peer EV/EBITDA multiples, supported by a high free cash flow yield and improving cash flow consistency.”
NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 33 hedge fund portfolios held NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) at the end of the fourth quarter, the same as in the previous quarter. In Q4 2025, NOV generated revenues of $2.28 billion and a net loss of $78 million. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) 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 NOV Inc. (NYSE:NOV) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2025 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.
