Weitz Investment Management, an investment management firm, released its “Large Cap Equity Fund” first-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Fund’s Institutional Class returned -12.04% in the quarter, compared to -4.22% for the Bloomberg U.S. 1000 Index. Despite recent performance challenges, the Fund maintains a positive outlook on its holding companies’ growth and business values. The firm anticipates improved returns in the future, although recent results have been frustrating. The Fund continues to focus on its best ideas and plans to actively reshape the portfolio in response to market conditions, potentially increasing cash levels more than in recent years. In addition, please check the Strategy’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Weitz Investment Large Cap Equity Fund highlighted HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI). HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) engages in the design and manufacturing of aerospace, defense, and electronic-related products and services headquartered in Hollywood, Florida. On May 12, 2026, HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) closed at $287.67 per share. One-month return of HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) was -1.60%, and its shares gained 6.73% over the past 52 weeks. HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) has a market capitalization of $40.14 billion.
Weitz Investment Large Cap Equity Fund stated the following regarding HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“We also added new positions in Ingersoll Rand and HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) late in the quarter. We have followed both businesses closely for years. HEICO’s Flight Support Group is best known for designing and manufacturing aftermarket replacement parts for commercial aircraft, while the Electronic Technologies Group makes highly engineered, mission-critical subcomponents for the aircraft, spacecraft, and defense markets. We think HEICO’s stock offers double-digit return potential from the late quarter stock price lows.”
HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) 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 HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 69 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) 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 HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered HEICO Corporation (NYSE:HEI) and shared a bullish thesis 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.
