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 stocks like ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML). ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is a Dutch-based semiconductor company that provides lithography solutions. On May 12, 2026, ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) stock closed at $1,520.94 per share. One-month return of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) was 2.64%, and its shares gained 97.80% over the past 52 weeks. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) has a market capitalization of $567.43 billion.
Weitz Investment Large Cap Equity Fund stated the following regarding ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“One takeaway from our ongoing portfolio analysis was that we did not have enough exposure to “what could go right?” stocks. Over the years, our team has done extensive work on companies with exceptional or plainly improving business trends. Along the way, we have tried to follow Mr. Buffett’s advice not to “pay a very high price for a cheery consensus” for their stocks. And, in many cases, we have been left in the dust. The “March Madness” market turmoil gave us a chance to own five new “on deck” companies at reasonable-to-good prices across a range of scenarios.
Over time, our investment team has built a deep knowledge base within the semiconductor industry. Three of our five new portfolio additions reside in the semiconductor value chain. The AI data center infrastructure buildout has been “the” theme of the past few years, and it is no stretch to say that ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML), Taiwan Semiconductor, and NVIDIA have been three of the best companies in the world. ASML is the dominant manufacturer of lithography equipment used in semiconductor production…” (Click here to read the full text)
ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 101 hedge fund portfolios held ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 82 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) 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 ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) and shared the list of best AI stocks to buy for 2026 according to billionaire David Tepper. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 15 Stocks That Will Make You Rich in 10 Years.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
