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Performance Review

Markets rapidly clawed back March’s losses following the Iran ceasefire. The fund returned +20.8%, net of fees, in the second quarter of 2026 — in line with the Russell 2000’s +21.5%. We are pleased with these results, especially as we have remained disciplined by avoiding the current speculative fervor surrounding AI stocks and semiconductors.
Top Performing Longs | 2Q26 Performance
Xometry Inc
XMTR

Xometry was hit hard in the first quarter following an overly negative reaction to the announced CEO transition and a blog post suggesting to dismantle network effects. The company’s 1Q26 earnings report demonstrated that these concerns are premature. Marketplace revenue is increasing from 33% to 40% year-over-year.
Bel Fuse Inc
BELFB

Bel Fuse delivered strong results with sales up sharply year-over-year and issued higher-than-expected guidance. Performance reflected strong demand in Aerospace & Defense and Networking markets.
Hirequest Inc
HQI

HireQuest benefited from an improving hiring environment throughout the quarter, with immigration enforcement tightening the labor market and increasing demand for the company’s staffing services. This momentum is supported by a decentralized model that continues to outperform larger competitors. The company’s active buyback program equal to approximately 40% of the free float.
VSE Corp
VSEC

VSE Corp advanced following the Iran ceasefire and a significant 1Q earnings beat. The company continues to scale its aviation aft adding to its repair capabilities and expanding its global footprint.
Worst Performing Longs | 2Q26 Performance
Atlas Energy Solutions Inc
AESI

Atlas Energy Solutions declined alongside broader energy weakness following signs of progress in resolving Middle East tensions. basin sand position as differentiated and expect significant operating leverage if domestic completion activity improves.
Stride Inc
LRN

Stride shares pulled back in mid-June following the loss of the Lone Star Online Academy contract in Texas, which was not renewed by the District. This represented an impact of roughly 5% of the company’s projected total enrollment for the period. While this development was a headwind, that in past similar contract losses, a meaningful portion of students often migrated to other Stride-powered programs.
Limbach Holdings Inc
LMB

Limbach shares meaningfully underperformed the broader market, declining ~30% post-earnings due to delivery timing issues and reflecting the impact of last year’s lower-margin Pioneer Power acquisition. Despite these headwinds, management reaffirmed full-year guidance and highlighted extremely strong orders. We expect shares to rebound as these issues resolve.
SECURE Waste Infrastructure Corp
SES

SECURE Waste Infrastructure Corp announced it was being acquired during the quarter and was a slight negative contributor due to the quarter.
Market returns over the past year have been dictated less by long-term earnings power and more by technical factors: tradable float, the mechanical influence of ETFs, and social-media-driven demand for shares of companies positioned to benefit from incremental supply-chain bottlenecks. At the same time, the economy has proved remarkably resilient through multiple shocks, and trillions of dollars in previously unanticipated capital expenditure are fueling real growth. In our view, higher earnings, margins, and valuations are warranted.
The question is what happens to that capex if its foundation cracks. Governments are now delaying frontier models, giving open-source and Chinese alternatives time to close the gap and pressuring the business models of the leading AI labs. Should OpenAI (OPENAI) or Anthropic (ANTHRO) encounter financing difficulties, the resulting write-downs could trigger significant downward earnings revisions and decelerate the capex wave, even as model capabilities keep improving.
Against this backdrop, we maintain our view that AI equities are in a bubble. However, there is nothing preventing this from becoming the largest bubble in history. Past technological booms and market bubbles never threatened the core of knowledge work; this one may. If the prevailing narrative holds that capital will displace labor at scale, the logical trade is to own the owners of that capital. We are not making that trade. Instead, we are concentrating capital in high-conviction positions in overlooked corners of the market where mispricing persists.
Anecdotally, we are observing knowledge workers becoming more productive than ever, as AI eliminates the friction of back-office tasks such as accounting, tax, legal, and compliance. We believe this democratization of infrastructure will act as a massive, secular tailwind for the broader economy. Meanwhile, valuations of businesses operating outside the AI theme are as compelling as we have seen in some time, as investors sell high-quality compounders to free up capital for the next AI bottleneck beneficiary. As a result, our net long exposure remains at the high end of our typical range.
Charles P. Murphy, CFA
Managing PartnerPortfolio Manager
Kurt A. Probe, CFA
Partner
Andrew Wang
Partner
References
1. Gross Pure Alpha is a metric we use internally to monitor our stock selection performance. Gross Pure Alpha = Gross Return – Leverage Contribution – Beta Contribution. Leverage Contribution = Gross Return – [Gross Return / Average Gross Exposure (when greater than 100%)]. Beta Contribution = Russell 2000 Index Return x Average Net Exposure.
2. Alpha is a Beta-Adjusted Alpha calculation. Alpha = Net Return – (Fund Beta x Russell 2000 Index Return)
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