Adobe Acquired Semrush Holdings (SEMR) at a 78% premium

Pernas Research LLC, which manages assets in the “Pernas Portfolio,” released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Portfolio returned 4.8% in Q4 compared to the S&P 500’s 2.7% return. Furthermore, the Portfolio significantly outperformed the S&P 500 in 2025, returning 54.3%. 2025 was a volatile year for Pernas Research, beginning with the California fires, followed by a sharp market reaction to Trump's “Liberation Day” announcement, which left the portfolio down 22%. However, as market conditions improved and AI momentum grew, the portfolio adjusted its strategy, resulting in significant alpha from stock selection. In addition, please check the Portfolio’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Pernas Research highlighted stocks like Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR). Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) is a technology company that develops an online visibility management software-as-a-service platform. On January 28, 2026, Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) stock closed at $11.91 per share. One-month return of Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) was 0.17%, and its shares lost 31.43% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) has a market capitalization of $1.8 billion.

Pernas Research stated the following regarding Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:

"As we laid out in our last letter, we believe the AI-driven capex cycle is likely to persist over the next 12–16 months, and that comparisons to the dot-com or telecom boom/bust are highly misplaced. Over the current period, we expect a large portion of our portfolio to remain focused on what we believe is one of the most attractive barbell opportunities we have seen in a long time: owning clear AI winners alongside companies that have been mislabeled as AI losers. Some SaaS companies will struggle in an AI-driven world, while others will survive and emerge much stronger. Four months ago we invested in Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) as an example of a company we believed would be an AI winner despite the market aggressively selling the stock on AI fears. Shortly thereafter, the company was acquired by Adobe at a 78% premium to bolster its AI capabilities, validating that view. We are currently undergoing review of a large list of “AI losers."

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 22 hedge fund portfolios held Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) at the end of the third quarter, compared to 25 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) 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 Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SEMR) and shared a bullish thesis on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.