Baron SMID Cap Strategy

Coherent Corp. (COHR) develops, manufactures, and markets advanced materials, lasers, and optical systems designed to generate, modulate, amplify, direct, and detect photons–the fundamental particles of light.
Coherent is positioned to benefit from secular communications tailwinds driven by AI data center buildouts, growing data center interconnect demand, increasing optical penetration within server racks, advances in optical switching, and the migration of traditional telecom networks to pluggable transceivers. In addition to these structural drivers, the company’s operational initiatives—including margin expansion, debt reduction, and diversification of its global supply chain—continue to support its improving financial profile.

Liberty Media Corporation - Liberty Formula One (FWONK) is a tracking stock that consists primarily of Liberty Media Corporation's interest in Formula One Group.
Formula One is a unique sports property that benefits from the rising value of broadcasting rights, new sponsorship deals, and strong third-party interest to host races. The sport continues to gain popularity globally and has seen impressive growth in the U.S. The growth in fan interest has translated into attractive contract extensions with race promoters and a number of new relationships with global brands. Additionally, Liberty Media acquired Dorna Sports, the organization behind MotoGP, a fast-growing and emerging motorsport.

Loar Holdings Inc. (LOAR) is a niche aerospace components manufacturer. Founded in 2012, the company has an 85% proprietary product portfolio, with more than half of its revenue coming from the high-margin aftermarket channel.
Loar’s proprietary, aftermarket-focused products represent one of the strongest business models in the aerospace and defense industry, exemplified by the success of peers such as TransDigm. Loar benefits from favorable industry growth trends and strong pricing power given the critical nature of its components. The company has executed a disciplined acquisition strategy, successfully integrating more than 17 acquisitions over the past 13 years. We believe Loar is well positioned to deliver strong double-digit growth for the foreseeable future.

Flutter Entertainment plc

Insulet Corporation (PODD) is a medical device company that develops and markets the OmniPod insulin delivery system for people with diabetes who require insulin therapy.
Unlike conventional tubed pumps, OmniPod eliminates the need for external tubing, offering a discreet and more comfortable wearable design. The device does not need to be detached for swimming, bathing, or exercise, and features wireless, automated needle insertion rather than manual insertion. The company’s “pay-as-you-go” business model requires no upfront payment, which is unique in the market. Competitive barriers include complex manufacturing processes, an arduous regulatory approval pathway, and a robust patent portfolio.

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (BAH) provides information technology consulting services to the federal government and to commercial and foreign customers.
We consider Booz Allen’s consultants to be best in class at addressing sensitive and high-priority projects across cybersecurity, intelligence, defense, and government spending efficiency. Given the company's unique expertise, we believe Booz Allen will continue to benefit from growing demand for its services.

Natera, Inc. (NTRA) offers testing solutions in women’s health, cancer recurrence monitoring, and transplant rejection diagnostics.
Natera is a leader in non-invasive prenatal testing and has also been instrumental in developing the liquid biopsy market for cancer recurrence monitoring, supported by robust clinical data and favorable reimbursement coverage. We estimate the recurrence monitoring total addressable market at $15 to $20 billion and believe Natera has a long runway for growth in this market.

Dynatrace, Inc. (DT) is a leading provider of IT system observability, offering a full-stack solution spanning user monitoring, infrastructure, and log management. To meet the demands of the modern software stack, the company re-architected its platform and expanded into security monitoring.
With its new platform, Dynatrace is better equipped to address complex use cases across multi-cloud, containerized, and hybrid environments. Estimates suggest only about 20% of enterprise applications are currently monitored, a figure expected to rise to 50% in the coming years. The growing application economy should drive greater monitoring demand as existing apps expand and new ones are developed. Dynatrace is well positioned to capture this opportunity through its differentiated platform, enterprise-grade solutions, expanding salesforce, and ongoing product innovation.

Repligen Corporation (RGEN) is a tools supplier to the bioprocessing industry, offering a broad portfolio including upstream cell culture and downstream chromatography and filtration.
Repligen operates in attractive end markets, historically targeting monoclonal antibodies and now expanding into cell and gene therapies. It should benefit as more companies begin manufacturing biosimilar versions of biologic drugs once key patents expire, increasing demand for Repligen’s bioprocessing products. The company has also innovated within specialized niches, including by introducing novel filtration technologies and building out in-line process analytics capabilities, positioning it for sustained long-term growth.

Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) is a data and analytics company focused on predicting consumer behavior through resellable algorithms (FICO Scores) and software (Applications and Decision Management Software).
We believe FICO has meaningful growth opportunities across all its business lines. In FICO Scores, special pricing initiatives in business-to-business seem likely to continue. In Software, years of substantial investment are bearing fruit and should lead to notable margin expansion over the next several years. Management has a shareholder-friendly capital allocation strategy with nearly all free cash flow used for share repurchases.