Mar Vista’s Q3 Letter: 3.29% Return, Exit From Adobe, Shift Toward AI Infrastructure
The firm frames its moves around a dovish Fed pivot alongside an accelerating generative‑AI cycle.
Overview
- Mar Vista U.S. Quality Strategy returned 3.29% net in Q3 2025 versus 8.00% for the Russell 1000 and 8.12% for the S&P 500, according to its investor letter released October 9.
- The manager exited its long‑standing Adobe position, citing unclear timing and magnitude of AI‑driven revenue from Creative Cloud extensions and a deteriorated risk‑reward profile.
- Apple shares rebounded as tariff and early Apple Intelligence adoption worries eased, with investor attention shifting to a favorable outcome in Alphabet’s DOJ case and healthy initial iPhone 17 demand.
- Amphenol posted strong results and outlook with AI‑related design wins, including components for NVIDIA’s Blackwell NVL platform expected to ramp in the second half of 2025.
- Salesforce shares faced pressure due to trade‑tension risks, concerns that agentic AI could cannibalize Service Cloud seats, and a slower-than-expected monetization ramp for offerings such as AgentForce.