In the first quarter of 2026, the investment landscape was marked by considerable fluctuations, transitioning from initial optimism to a significant energy crisis following geopolitical events. Amidst this volatility, global equity markets experienced a downturn, with U.S. equities declining. However, value stocks demonstrated resilience, outperforming growth stocks as investors shifted away from mega-cap technology firms due to emerging concerns regarding artificial intelligence. In this environment, Antipodes Global Strategy achieved notable performance, exceeding its benchmark for both the quarter and the preceding twelve months. The strategy's success was particularly driven by its holdings in North America, Korea, Western Europe, and Latin America, while specific sectors such as energy, consumer discretionary, industrials, and healthcare were key contributors to its strong showing.

Antipodes Global Value Strategy, in its investor letter for the first quarter of 2026, specifically brought attention to NVIDIA Corporation. NVIDIA, a prominent entity in the realm of data center-scale AI infrastructure, operates through its Compute & Networking and Graphics divisions. As of June 24, 2026, NVIDIA's stock closed at $198.91 per share, reflecting an 8.76% decrease over the prior month but a substantial 26.10% gain over the preceding 52 weeks, culminating in a market capitalization of $4.74 trillion. The strategy emphasized that NVIDIA's market valuation appears to undervalue its true potential, largely due to market overestimation of near-term AI uncertainties, even as there's a fundamental surge in demand for the world's leading AI infrastructure provider.

NVIDIA's management projects an AI infrastructure demand of at least $1 trillion by 2027, a significant increase from the $500 billion forecasted just a year prior. This projection is considered a conservative estimate, with NVIDIA poised to be the primary beneficiary, underpinned by its extensive CUDA installed base. Furthermore, the company's revenue streams are expanding beyond traditional hyperscalers to include sovereign clouds, enterprise solutions, and robotics. The transition from Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to agentic models also presents additional monetization opportunities within the enterprise IT sector, further solidifying NVIDIA's long-term growth prospects.

NVIDIA Corporation held a strong position among hedge funds, ranking as the fourth most popular stock at the close of the fourth quarter, 2025. The number of hedge fund portfolios with NVIDIA holdings increased to 275 from 264 in the previous quarter, underscoring its appeal to institutional investors. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, NVIDIA reported an impressive $82 billion in revenues, marking an 85% year-over-year increase. Despite NVIDIA's evident potential, some analysts suggest that certain other AI stocks might offer superior upside potential with comparatively lower downside risks, especially those poised to benefit from evolving trade policies and domestic manufacturing trends. Investors are advised to consider a diversified approach to AI investments, exploring options that align with both growth potential and risk management.