Intel Corporation (INTC) Rally Highlights the Fund’s Missed CPU Bet
Columbia Threadneedle Investments, an investment management company, released its "Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund" second quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. During the quarter, the Fund's Institutional Class shares returned 50.34%, outperforming the MSCI World Information Technology Index's 33.65% gain. Stock selection in semiconductors, technology hardware and software, together with an off-benchmark electrical equipment allocation, supported relative performance, while exposure to financials, consumer discretionary and healthcare detracted. Technology stocks rallied as concerns over the Iran conflict eased and AI infrastructure spending boosted demand for semiconductors, memory, networking, servers and power solutions. The Fund expects AI and data-centre investment to remain strong, supported by broadening earnings growth and improving software bookings, cloud consumption and customer spending. However, geopolitical uncertainty, higher interest rates and heavy AI investment could pressure valuations and free cash flow. The strategy holds 50–75 technology companies across market capitalisations and uses bottom-up GARP research to identify misunderstood and undervalued businesses in the technology industry. In addition, please check the Fund's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund highlighted Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC). Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and services computing and related end products and services. On July 29, 2026, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) closed at $81.88 per share. One-month return of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was -31.97% and its shares gained 313.54% over the past 52 weeks. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has a market capitalization of $413.00 billion.
Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund stated the following regarding Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"The fund did not own some of the larger central processing unit (CPU) company such as Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), and the server CPU opportunity is having a renaissance driven by agentic AI. This lack of exposure ultimately detracted from performance, as the companies' share prices moved sharply higher during the quarter."
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is on our list of the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 112 hedge fund portfolios held Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) at the end of the first quarter which was 96 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) 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 free report on the best short-term AI stock.
In a previous article, we explored Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), highlighting that it had just recorded its best quarter in 15 years and discussing the sustainability of this turnaround. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.