The Mairs & Power, an investment firm, released the first-quarter 2026 investor letter for the “Mairs & Power Balanced Fund.” A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund returned -1.77% in the first quarter of 2026, outperforming its benchmark composite index decline of -2.68% as strong stock selection and exposure to Utilities and Industrials helped offset market volatility triggered by the Iran conflict and rising energy prices. The fund said inflation concerns resurfaced after Middle East tensions pushed oil prices higher, causing the Federal Reserve to adopt a more cautious stance on interest rates. Despite the uncertain backdrop, the firm maintained a constructive long-term outlook, citing resilient corporate earnings, improving small-cap trends, and attractive opportunities in reasonably valued sectors such as Utilities, Industrials, and Health Care. In addition, you can check the Fund’s top five holdings to determine its best picks for 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Mairs & Power Balanced Fund highlighted stocks like Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS). Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) is an industrial technology company that manufactures circuit protection, power control, and sensing products for electronics, automotive, and industrial markets. The one-month return of Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) was 5.08% while its shares traded between $215.16 and $500.57 over the last 52 weeks. On June 4, 2026, Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) stock closed at approximately $480.24 per share, with a market capitalization of about $12.14 billion.
Mairs & Power Balanced Fund stated the following regarding Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“The Information Technology sector was the largest contributor to the outperformance of equities during the quarter. While a portion of this was attributable to the underweight allocation to the sector, the majority of relative outperformance came from stock selection. Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) performed particularly well due to increased demand for its data center products as technology companies rush to invest in projects to power advances in Generative AI.”
Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. As per our database, 43 hedge fund portfolios held Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) at the end of the first quarter, which was 32 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) 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 Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) and shared First Pacific Advisors’ views 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.
