Artisan Sold Medline (MDLN) as Cost Pressures Delayed the Company’s Profit Recovery

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 Medline Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLN ). Medline Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLN) manufactures med-surg products serving hospitals, surgery centers, physician offices, post-acute facilities, and nursing home sites of care. On September 03, 2026, Medline Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLN) closed at $36.59 per share. Over the past month, Medline Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLN) was up 3.86%, and YTD its shares lost 12.88%. Medline Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLN) has a market capitalization of $47.72 billion.

Artisan Global Opportunities Strategy stated the following regarding Medline Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLN) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:

"We ended our investment campaigns in Cencora, Lonza Group and Medline during the quarter. While health care remains a core area of the portfolio, we remain pragmatic when individual companies fail to meet our fundamental expectations or when profit cycles mature. In each case, stock-specific disappointments reduced our conviction in the remaining earnings opportunity, leading us to redeploy capital toward earlier stage profit cycles and higher conviction ideas across the portfolio. Medline Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLN) is a leading supplier of medical-surgical products and supply chain solutions, combining vertically integrated manufacturing with third-party product distribution and customized logistics services for health care customers globally. We exited the position as tariffs, cost inflation and product recalls reduced visibility into the company's earnings trajectory and delayed the anticipated profit cycle. While we continue to view Medline as a high-quality franchise, we chose to redeploy capital into opportunities with clearer near-term catalysts and more compelling profit-cycle potential."

"We ended our investment campaigns in Cencora, Lonza Group and Medline during the quarter. While health care remains a core area of the portfolio, we remain pragmatic when individual companies fail to meet our fundamental expectations or when profit cycles mature. In each case, stock-specific disappointments reduced our conviction in the remaining earnings opportunity, leading us to redeploy capital toward earlier stage profit cycles and higher conviction ideas across the portfolio.

Medline Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLN) is a leading supplier of medical-surgical products and supply chain solutions, combining vertically integrated manufacturing with third-party product distribution and customized logistics services for health care customers globally. We exited the position as tariffs, cost inflation and product recalls reduced visibility into the company's earnings trajectory and delayed the anticipated profit cycle. While we continue to view Medline as a high-quality franchise, we chose to redeploy capital into opportunities with clearer near-term catalysts and more compelling profit-cycle potential."