Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter for “Meridian Growth Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The US equity market started 2026 with elevated volatility amid trade policy uncertainty and geopolitical risks. Initial optimism from domestic company confidence and the Federal Reserve easing waned following increased tariffs and military strikes against Iran. The value outperformed across the entire market-cap spectrum. Against this backdrop, the Meridian Growth Fund (the “Fund”) returned -7.90%, trailing the Russell 2500 Growth Index benchmark, which returned -3.52%. The underperformance was driven by industry allocation effects, while stock selection was a meaningful positive contributor. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Meridian Growth Fund highlighted stocks like Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW). Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) is a leading engineering and manufacturing company serving aerospace and defense, commercial nuclear power, process, and industrial markets. On May 22, 2026, Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) closed at $731.24 per share. One-month return of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) was 1.96%, and its shares gained 70.67% over the past 52 weeks. Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) has a market capitalization of $27.01 billion.
Meridian Growth Fund stated the following regarding Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) is a diversified industrial company providing highly engineered products and services to the defense, power generation, and general industrial end markets. The company benefits from long-cycle defense programs, nuclear propulsion content, and an increasing role in commercial nuclear power applications. Shares rose significantly during the quarter as elevated defense spending, nuclear renaissance themes, and strong execution across the portfolio drove continued earnings momentum. The company’s exposure to critical national security programs and growing energy infrastructure demand positioned it favorably in a period of heightened geopolitical tension.”
Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 59 hedge fund portfolios held Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 62 in the previous quarter. In Q1 2026, Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) reported sales of $914 million grew 13% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) 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 Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) and shared the list of best large cap defense stocks to buy according to hedge funds. 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.
