Mairs & Power, an investment advisor, released the “Mairs & Power Balanced Fund” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The stock market reached a record high in February. However, tariff uncertainty in March led to a fall in equities, while fixed income benefited from perceived safety. The fund ended the quarter up 0.04%. The fund outperformed the benchmark composite indexes (60% S&P 500 Total Return Index and 40% Bloomberg U.S. Government/Credit Bond Index), down 1.48%, and the Morningstar Moderate Allocation peer group, which fell 0.34%. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Mairs & Power Balanced Fund highlighted stocks such as Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH). Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH), with a market capitalization of $7.544 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 -11.74%, and its shares lost 38.07% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 6, 2025, Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) stock closed at $47.72 per share.

Mairs & Power Balanced Fund stated the following regarding Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) underperformed due to negativity around the funding environment for biopharmaceuticals and biotech research given recent federal funding cuts and a weak venture capital funding environment. We have taken advantage of the recent weakness to add to our Bio-Techne position.”

A scientist working on a complex photonics instruments in a sterile laboratory setting.

Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 24 hedge fund portfolios held Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 25 in the third quarter. In the second quarter of fiscal 2025, the company generated $297 million in revenues, up 9% year-over-year on both reported and organic basis. While we acknowledge the potential of Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.