Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its second-quarter 2026 investor commentary for the "Artisan Global Opportunities Strategy". The letter can be downloaded here. Global equities rebounded sharply during the quarter, with the MSCI ACWI Index returning 15.3% as resilient economic growth, strong corporate earnings, and continued enthusiasm around artificial intelligence supported markets despite persistent inflation, higher bond yields, and geopolitical uncertainty. The portfolio reported strong absolute returns of 12.65% (net) but underperformed the benchmark, mainly because of its underweight exposure to information technology and overweight position in health care. Strong stock selection in technology and energy partially offset these headwinds. The fund continues to see attractive long-term opportunities across AI infrastructure, health care and consumer internet, while remaining disciplined on valuation as several AI-related stocks have appreciated sharply. Management remains focused on durable franchises with identifiable profit cycles and attractive long-term earnings potential. Also, check the Strategy's top five holdings to see its best picks in 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Artisan Global Opportunities Strategy highlighted Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) as a new position. Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) is a technology company that operates through optical communication, display technologies, environmental technologies, specialty materials, and life sciences business segments. On September 01, 2026, Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) closed at $145.56 per share. Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) declined 8.08% over the past month, while its shares gained 107.73% over the past 52 weeks. Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) has a market capitalization of $125.38 billion with a 52-week trading range between $66.14 - $271.78.
Artisan Global Opportunities Strategy stated the following regarding Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"During the quarter, we initiated positions in Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW). Corning and STMicroelectronics represent earlier stage semiconductor supply chain opportunities that we believe will see growing demand as AI infrastructure spending broadens beyond today's most obvious beneficiaries. In both cases, we see a potential opportunity for higher value, higher margin products as data centers require greater optical connectivity, semiconductor content and related infrastructure. Corning is a leading global supplier of specialty glass and optical connectivity solutions. We initiated a GardenSM position because we believe Corning is well positioned to meet rising optical connectivity needs as AI infrastructure shifts toward larger clusters and scale-up architectures. While we are not early to the story, we believe the company's fiber capacity, US-based manufacturing footprint and ability to deliver higher complexity optical solutions to hyperscaler