Artisan Partners, an asset management firm, issued its second‑quarter 2026 investor letter for the Artisan Small Cap Fund. The letter is available for download here. The fund posted robust absolute returns and slightly outperformed the Russell 2000® Growth Index, which rose 25.7% over the same period. Global equity markets rallied, buoyed by resilient U.S. growth, easing inflation, strong corporate earnings and continued AI investment, which offset delayed interest‑rate cuts, higher bond yields and geopolitical uncertainty. The investor‑class shares (ARTSX), advisor‑class shares (APDSX) and institutional‑class shares (APHSX) delivered returns of 26.02%, 26.05% and 26.11%, respectively, compared with a 25.71% index return. Market leadership favored distressed, highly leveraged firms, posing challenges for quality‑focused active managers. Health‑care contributed the most, while energy, materials, financials and real estate also posted gains. Technology, industrials and consumer discretionary lagged, partly because the fund omitted the largest index constituents. Software holdings weakened despite solid fundamentals. The fund remains bullish on small‑cap opportunities, AI infrastructure and health‑care, though it has trimmed software exposure and now exercises greater selectivity as valuations rise and competitive pressures intensify.
In its second‑quarter 2026 investor letter, Artisan Small Cap Fund added SiTime Corporation (NASDAQ:SITM) to its portfolio. SiTime designs and sells silicon‑based timing solutions for communications, data‑center and industrial applications. The stock closed at $554.46 on July 24, 2026. Over the preceding month the share price fell 21.96%, yet it has risen 184.69% over the last 52 weeks. SiTime’s market capitalization stands at $14.64 billion, with a 52‑week trading range of $186.49 to $901.81.
The fund presented its evaluation of SiTime Corporation (NASDAQ:SITM) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
SiTime Corporation (NASDAQ:SITM) develops silicon‑based timing solutions for communications, data‑center and industrial applications. The company is well positioned to capitalize on the shift from legacy quartz oscillators to higher‑performance micro‑electromechanical systems (MEMS) timing devices, a transition supported by sustained AI infrastructure growth. Recent financial results exceeded expectations, driven by accelerating AI‑related demand and increased timing content per system, which produced strong revenue growth and margin expansion. The firm identifies several catalysts ahead, including faster networking speeds, expanding inference workloads and rising product content. During the quarter the fund increased its exposure, reinforced by research that underscores the growing importance of timing orchestration for optimizing AI data‑center performance, as semiconductor timing solutions continue to displace traditional quartz technologies.