Bio-Techne Corporation (TECH) Slid on Weakness in Research Spending

Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Asset Fund” second-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. U.S. stocks rose amid volatility caused by tariff policies and Middle East tensions. Early April risk-off sentiment was fueled by Trump’s “Liberation Day" tariffs, seen as more severe than expected. U.S. equities rose after April 8, driven by favorable trade news, strong earnings, dovish Fed signals, and AI momentum, reaching record highs by quarter’s end. During the second quarter, the fund was up 7.85% (Institutional Shares) compared to an 18.20% gain for the Russell Midcap Growth Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its second-quarter 2025 investor letter, Baron Asset Fund highlighted stocks such as Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH). Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH), with a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, develops, manufactures, and sells life science reagents, instruments, and services for the research and clinical diagnostic markets. The one-month return of Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) was 2.99%, and its shares lost 31.73% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 31, 2025, Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) stock closed at $54.73 per share.

Baron Asset Fund stated the following regarding Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:

"Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is a leading developer and manufacturer of reagents, instruments, and services for the life sciences research, diagnostics, and bioprocessing markets. Its stock fell due to weakness in academic research spending following cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. The U.S. academic research market accounts for roughly 12% of Bio-Techne’s revenue, with about half of that tied to NIH grants. Broader biotechnology funding has also been soft amid policy uncertainty and weak capital markets. As a result, management guided to low single digit organic revenue growth for the June quarter, down from its prior expectation of high single-digit growth. While the challenging environment for U.S. academic research may persist in the near term, we retain conviction in the stock. Bio-Techne’s overall exposure to this end market remains limited, and we believe the current valuation is attractive."

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 34 hedge fund portfolios held Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) at the end of the first quarter, which was 24 in the previous quarter. In the fiscal second quarter of 2025, Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) generated $316.2 million in revenues, up 6% year-over-year on an organic basis and 4% on reported basis. While we acknowledge the potential of Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) 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 another article, we covered Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) and shared the list of most profitable biotech stocks to invest in. Headwaters Capital Management initiated a position in Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) during Q2 2025. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2025 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.