Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Appreciation Fund” Q2 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund gained 13.71% in the second quarter of 2026, slightly outperforming the Russell Midcap Value Index’s 13.40% return but trailing the Russell Midcap Index’s 13.83% gain. Strong contributions from several holdings, particularly in technology, power infrastructure, and entertainment, supported performance, while weakness in oil services and consumer healthcare stocks weighed on results. U.S. equities rallied sharply during the quarter as easing geopolitical tensions, lower oil prices, and resilient corporate earnings boosted investor confidence, with technology, semiconductors, and AI-related businesses leading the advance. Looking ahead, Appreciation Fund expects modest and uneven global growth, continued geopolitical risks, and pressure from inflation and borrowing costs, while maintaining a long-term focus on durable businesses, strong balance sheets, and sustainable competitive advantages. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Appreciation Fund highlighted stocks like Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL). Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL) is a global cruise company operating a portfolio of cruise brands serving travelers across destinations worldwide. The one-month return of Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL) was 014.79% while its shares traded between $232.10 and $366.50 over the last 52 weeks. On August 3, 2026, Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL) stock closed at approximately $318.30 per share, with a market capitalization of about $86.65 billion.
Appreciation Fund stated the following regarding Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
“We also bought Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL), the world’s second-largest cruise operator, with a portfolio that includes Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Pullmantur. The company benefits from high barriers to entry and durable demand, as well as a meaningful scale advantage, representing nearly a quarter of global cruise capacity. We believe the resilience of the core cruise consumer, coupled with management’s demonstrated operational excellence, positions RCL to sustain its strong growth trajectory and further solidify its leadership within the global cruise industry.”
A Royal Caribbean cruise. Photo from Royal Caribbean website
Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. As per our database, 53 hedge fund portfolios held Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL) at the end of the first quarter, which was 53 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL) 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 Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL) and shared the list of the top travel stocks to buy now. 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.
