Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter for “Artisan Small Cap Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Fund seeks to invest in companies that possess franchise characteristics, with strong earnings trajectories, and are trading at a discount to the estimated private market value. Despite strong results in 2025, volatility was elevated, and sentiment shifted frequently, influenced by political developments in the US, evolving trade policy rhetoric, changing expectations for monetary policy, and ongoing geopolitical tensions. Against this backdrop, the Fund posted strong absolute returns in the fourth quarter, outperforming both the Russell 2000® Growth Index and the Russell 2000® Index. The portfolio delivered strong results in the quarter across all segments. In contrast, for the full year, the Fund generated strong results but trailed both the indexes. In Q4 2025, the market leadership shifted back to companies with durable profit cycles. Moving to 2026, the firm continues to focus on its proven technique of identifying profit cycles in franchise companies at reasonable valuations. 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 Small Cap Fund highlighted stocks like Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN). Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) is a medical device manufacturer that offers peripheral thrombectomy products. On March 16, 2026, Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) stock closed at $336.21 per share. One-month return of Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) was -1.41%, and its shares are up 22.13% over the past twelve months. Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) has a market capitalization of $13.194 billion.
Artisan Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:
“We also added to Bruker, Hexcel and Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) during the quarter. Penumbra is a medical device company focused on minimally invasive treatments for removing blood clots and treating vascular conditions such as stroke, aneurysms and pulmonary embolism. We added to the position as adoption of its core products grows, supported by strong clinical outcomes, a favorable safety profile and broader use by physicians beyond neurologists. The company is also benefiting from competitive disruption and a maturing, more specialized sales force, while upcoming regulatory approvals for next-generation devices could further accelerate its profit cycle.”
Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 42 hedge fund portfolios held Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 41 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) 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 Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) and shared Baron Health Care Fund’s views on the company. 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.
