Dodge & ****** Fund, an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2026 investor letter for "Dodge and ****** Stock Fund". A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Despite volatile oil prices and rising inflation, U.S. equities reached record highs in Q2 2026, driven by a technology-led rally, particularly in memory semiconductors. The Fund's Class A shares returned 5.57%, underperforming the S&P 500 Index's 15.20% return and the Russell 1000 Value Index's 13.84% gain, mainly due to underweighting in Information Technology and weak performances from several holdings. Concerns over AI disruption negatively impacted companies with strong franchises. The Fund's bottom-up investment approach allowed it to acquire shares in industry leaders with strong long-term fundamentals. The firm believes that increased exposure to high-quality businesses and a diversified portfolio positions the Fund well for future growth. In addition, please check the Fund's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Dodge and ****** Stock Fund highlighted its new purchase, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V). Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a multinational financial services company known for its payment technology network that offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products and other services. On July 21, 2026, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) closed at $355.82 per share. One-month return of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) was 7.10%, and its shares gained 0.15% over the past 52 weeks. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) has a market capitalization of $676.68 billion.
Dodge and ****** Stock Fund stated the following regarding Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its Q2 2026 investor update:
"During the second quarter, concerns about AI disruption led to declines in a number of companies with strong franchises and solid profitability. Our bottom-up approach led us to establish several new positions in industry leaders whose shares have lagged, and where we believe the long-term fundamentals are not fully reflected in their current prices. We initiated a position in Visa, a leader in global payments, an industry characterized by strong network effects and high barriers to entry.
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is expanding beyond transaction processing into fraud prevention, data ****** ytics, and digital commerce. We believe the shares are undervalued at less than 24 times forward earnings, a price that reflects investor concerns over potential regulatory headwinds, including proposed caps on credit card interest rates and fees. Given Visa's high operating margins, strong free cash flow, and growth opportunities beyond its core business, we believe investors are underestimating the durability of its competitive advantages."

#NYSE #shares #strong #concerns