Madison Investments, an investment advisor, released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter for the "Madison Large Cap Fund". A copy of the letter is available to download here. The Madison Large Cap Fund (Class I) declined 2.7% in the quarter, outperforming the S&P 500's -4.33% return. The fund focuses on long-term capital appreciation. The quarter saw a shift in the equity market beyond the mega-cap technology stocks into physical economy stocks, influenced by fears of AI disruption. Additionally, rising commodity prices due to the Middle East conflict reignited inflation concerns, benefiting sectors such as Energy, Materials, Utilities, Staples, and Real Estate, which the Fund does not invest in, impacting its relative performance. Please review the Fund's top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Madison Large Cap Fund highlighted Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A). Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) is a leading global provider of application-focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. On June 15, 2026, Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) closed at $130.59 per share. One-month return of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) was 14.75%, and its shares gained 17.50% over the past 52 weeks. Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) has a market capitalization of $36.88 billion.
Madison Large Cap Fund stated the following regarding Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
"Our two life science tools investments, Danaher and Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A), round out the top five detractors. Both companies reported results broadly consistent with expectations. However, while each respective company's outlook for 2026 calls for continued end market recovery, it was at a slower pace than investors hoped. Furthermore, investors appear to also have ascribed some level of "AI risk" to these companies on the belief that AI technology could enable customers to simulate research experiments, thus reducing the need to purchase instruments and consumables used for physical experiments in the lab. We believe that there is a low likelihood that this will ultimately occur, and even if it did happen, early-stage R&D activity represents a very small percentage of Agilent and Danaher's revenue."
Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 63 hedge fund portfolios held Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) at the end of the first quarter, compared to 71 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) reported $1.83 billion in revenue, up 6.3% on a core basis, exceeding the high end of guidance. While we acknowledge the potential of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If yo