Long Cast Advisors, an independent registered investment adviser, released its Q1 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter is available to download here. For 1Q26, the portfolio’s cumulative net returns were flat, aligning with small and micro-cap market indexes, including the Russell 2000 and iShares ETFs. Geopolitical and economic factors, including the Iran war, inflation, and market herding behavior around AI expectations, influenced these returns. Since its inception in November 2015, LCA has achieved a cumulative 270% net return, or 13% CAGR, surpassing the indices. Founded in 2015, Long Cast focuses on long-term investing in well-researched small- and micro-cap companies, aiming for 15% annualized returns. At the end of the quarter, LCA’s top five positions made up 62% of the portfolio. In addition, please check the firm’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Long Cast Advisors highlighted stocks like Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX). Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) is a global medical device company that designs, develops, manufactures, and sells powered surgical instruments for medical device OEMs. On June 1, 2026, Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) closed at $66.93 per share. One-month return of Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) was 19.52%, and its shares gained 56.43% over the past 52 weeks. Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) has a market capitalization of $213.69 million.
Long Cast Advisors stated the following regarding Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) ($28.51 avg price). We discussed PDEX at length in our 3Q25 letter. As expected, the company completed the acquisition of a primary supplier, which could negatively impact margins in the short term but offer more substantial long-term upside. The renewed contract with “customer 1” should support near term earnings and at 15x EBITDA it seems fairly valued on that alone. Zimmer Biomet’s expected commercialization of Monogram’s mBos system could radically accelerate value creation. PDEX is a contracted and critical supplier to the platform. One need only listen to ZBH conference calls to see the extensive resources supporting its expected ’27 launch. (Concurrently, as a point of caution, one need only look at ZBH stock chart to see that the market is skeptical). If hurdles are met along the commercialization process, PDEX will realize matieral gains on “valuation rights” it received in the Monogram sale. If commercialization is successful, the opportunity path would be multiples longer and wider.”
Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 3 hedge fund portfolios held Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) at the end of the first quarter, compared to 1 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) 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 Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
Long Cast Advisors highlighted Pro-Dex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) in its Q3 2023, Q3 2024 and Q3 2025 investor letters citing its strong fundamentals. 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.
