Parnassus Investments, an investment management company, released the "Parnassus Growth Equity Fund" second-quarter 2026 investor letter. The letter can be downloaded here. During the quarter, the Fund (Investor Shares) returned 17.49% (net of fees), outperforming the Russell 1000 Growth Index's 16.74%. Holdings in Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary sectors boosted relative returns, while Communication Services and Financials holdings detracted. For the year-to-date period, the Fund returned 6.17% (net of fees), outperforming the Russell 1000 Growth's 5.33%. The firm remains constructively bullish on U.S. equities and continues to be selective, valuation-sensitive, and focused on disruptive growth opportunities through active stock selection. Growth stocks advanced during the second quarter, as the Russell 1000 Growth Index generated strong double-digit returns driven by increased confidence in the durability of the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure build-out. Additionally, reviewing the Fund's top five holdings could help identify its best picks for 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Parnassus Growth Equity Fund highlighted Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) as a newly added position. Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions using NAND flash technology in the United States and internationally. On September 15, 2026, Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) closed at $1,530.90 per share. Over the past month, Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) declined 2.32%, but its shares are up 1,530.74% over the past year. Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) has a market capitalization of $224.15 billion, and its stock has traded within a 52-week range of $90.22 to $2,354.39.
Parnassus Growth Equity Fund stated the following regarding Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"Other positions added during the quarter included Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), a leader in flash memory solutions; Comfort Systems, a mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractor. Sandisk makes NAND flash memory, which is seeing a surge in demand from data centers and AI workloads. While NAND remains cyclical, we believe the combination of accelerating AI-driven storage demand and constrained supply provides an attractive opportunity to participate in the current upcycle."
Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) is on our list of the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 128 hedge fund portfolios held Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) at the end of the second quarter which was 114 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our fre