Vltava Fund, a value-focused investment management company, published its investor letter for the second quarter of 2026. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The letter explores the growing role of AI and how certain facets of human intelligence may become less valuable economically, while other skills become more important. The author emphasizes that despite AI's expanding capabilities in information collection and basic modeling, qualities like sound judgment, good taste, patience, original thinking, strategic skepticism, and the ability to recognize significance will continue to hold their value. Despite the excitement around A.I., fundamental investment principles remain unchanged. Please review the Fund's top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Vltava Fund highlighted Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX). Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) is a leading semiconductor equipment company that supplies semiconductor processing equipment for the fabrication of integrated circuits. On July 2, 2026, Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) closed at $351.41 per share. One-month return of Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) was 15.87%, and its shares gained 255.64% over the past 52 weeks. Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) has a market capitalization of $439.46 billion.
Vltava Fund stated the following regarding Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"During the second quarter, we sold out four stock positions and added two new ones to the portfolio. We sold the troika Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX), Applied Materials, and KLA Corporation, all of which are key suppliers of manufacturing equipment and process control solutions for the semiconductor industry. These are undoubtedly excellent businesses, without which it would be impossible to produce increasingly advanced chips. Nevertheless, once the valuations of even the best companies begin to reach levels of 20× sales and 50× earnings, the balance between quality and price shifts significantly to the investor's disadvantage. In such a situation, it is no longer enough simply to recognize that these are excellent companies. It is also necessary for future growth, margins, and return on capital to remain exceptionally high over the long term and for practically no significant risks to materialize. In our view, this is an overly demanding and speculative combination. Despite the ongoing semiconductor boom, it is still good to remember that this is a pretty cyclical industry. There remained no margin of safety between price and value to speak of, and the high prices were therefore our impetus to sell."