Tom Russo's Trades and Holdings in Q1 2026

Breaking down the stocks Tom Russo (Gardner Russo & Quinn) bought, sold, and held in Q1 2026, including their holdings at the end of the quarter. All data sourced from Gardner Russo & Quinn's 13F filed on May 13, 2026.

Who are Tom Russo and Gardner Russo & Quinn?

Tom Russo is the founder and managing member of Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC (commonly referred to as GRQ). The firm is known for its concentrated portfolio, typically consisting of around 85 positions with the top 10 holdings comprising approximately 80% of assets, reflecting a focus on a core group of long-held, high-conviction investments with low annual turnover (averaging around 5.5%). His investment strategy is a global value investing approach inspired by Warren Buffett's principles, emphasizing companies with the "capacity to reinvest" and "capacity to suffer" — meaning they can endure short-term earnings pressures to compound intrinsic value at high rates over decades through strategic reinvestments. Russo focuses on underfollowed or undervalued global brands, often family-controlled, that expand into large addressable markets, with strong qualitative factors like pricing power, indispensable products, high returns on invested capital, reinvestment opportunities in emerging economies, and low agency costs.

Q1 '26 13F filed with SEC

Holdings in Q1 2026

Current Investment Strategy

Tom Russo's Gardner Russo & Quinn continues to run a concentrated, low-turnover portfolio anchored in globally dominant, often family-controlled consumer and financial franchises—led by Berkshire Hathaway, Alphabet, Mastercard, Philip Morris International, Heineken Holding, Richemont, and Nestlé—that Russo believes possess the rare "capacity to suffer" short-term margin pressure while reinvesting for decades-long compounding across emerging and developed markets. In Q1 2026, the firm rotated within its consumer-staples and industrials sleeve, exiting stakes in Ashtead Group, Diageo, Hyatt Hotels, and the Swiss Helvetia Fund while initiating new positions in Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Eurofins Scientific, and De'Longhi, underscoring a continued preference for pricing-power-rich, brand-driven businesses over cyclically exposed hospitality and equipment-rental names.

New Investments

Sunbelt Rentals Holdings Inc

Tom Russo bought $393.74M of Sunbelt Rentals Holdings Inc in Q1 2026. Sunbelt Rentals Holdings Inc delivered accelerating top-line growth over the last two quarters, with Q3 FY26 revenue up 2.7% year over year and Q4 FY26 revenue up 8.9%, though margins declined as adjusted EBITDA margin fell from 42.7% to 38.7% year over year in Q4. Over the last twelve months, revenue grew 3.4% to a record $11.15B, while net income reached approximately $1.33B and adjusted EBITDA $4.7B, supported by robust free cash flow of $2.1B that funded about $1.9B in dividends and share repurchases. Despite near-term margin pressure, the combination of resilient rental demand, improving sequential growth in Q4, high-teens operating margins, and significant cash returns to shareholders positions the company as a potential outperformer if management continues to execute on specialty rental growth and disciplined capital allocation.

• Q4 FY26 revenue increased 8.9% year over year to about $2.8B, with rental revenue up 8.0%.
• FY26 total revenue rose 3.4% to $11.15B, while adjusted EBITDA reached $4.7B at a 41.9% margin.
• FY26 free cash flow of approximately $2.1B enabled returns of about $1.9B to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

Eurofins Scientific

Tom Russo bought $223.55M of Eurofins Scientific in Q1 2026. In the current quarter, H1 2026 results highlight that profitability is improving faster than revenue, with adjusted EPS up about 29% and adjusted EBITDA margin expanding roughly 130bps to around 23.7%, even as organic revenue growth slowed to about -1.1% in Q2 and headline growth remained low single‑digit. Versus the prior quarter, Q1 2026 delivered reported revenue growth of roughly 1.3% and organic growth of about 2.6%, but the company missed its revenue forecast and the share price dropped around 11% as severe adverse weather in North America and Northern Europe weighed on volumes. Looking ahead, management is reiterating mid‑term objectives including 4–6% organic growth for 2026 and EBITDA margins trending toward roughly 24% by 2027, underpinned by cost efficiencies, strong free cash flow generation and a high‑margin mature portfolio, although a slowdown in BioPharma testing introduces some risk to achieving those growth targets.

• H1 2026 revenues rose 2.5% year-over-year to approximately €3,701m, with organic growth of 2.7% despite a 2.9% FX headwind.
• Basic EPS increased about 29.4% year-over-year to roughly €1.55, while adjusted EBITDA margin expanded around 130bps to about 23.7% in H1 2026.
• Free cash flow to the firm grew approximately 46% year-over-year to about €403m, with cash conversion reaching a record near 47% and leverage held around 2.2x.

De&Apos;Longhi

Tom Russo bought $1.35M of De&Apos;Longhi in Q1 2026. Over the last twelve months, De'Longhi has combined steady growth with margin expansion, as FY 2025 revenues increased 8.7% to €3,801.5 million and adjusted EBITDA reached €625.1 million with a 16.4% margin, supported by robust cash generation and a strengthened net financial position. Momentum has strengthened over the past two quarters, with Q1 2026 revenues up 3% (6.6% at constant FX) to €777.7 million and H1 2026 revenues up 5.8% (8% at constant FX) to €1,676.3 million, while adjusted EBITDA margins expanded to 16.2% in Q1 and 16.9% in H1 and H1 net income rose 21.2% year over year, indicating the security is gaining rather than declining. In the current quarter, the Professional division delivered revenue growth of about 40% at constant FX with an adjusted EBITDA margin near 32%, H1 free cash flow before shareholder returns turned positive at €78.3 million, and management raised full‑year 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance to €670–690 million while maintaining a strong net cash position of about €686.6–687 million, all of which are major recent catalysts that can support a higher valuation for the security.

• FY 2025 revenues €3,801.5 million, up 8.7% year over year; adjusted EBITDA €625.1 million with a 16.4% margin and net profit €316.3 million (around 8.3% of revenues)..
• Q1 2026 revenues €777.7 million, up 3% reported (6.6% at constant FX); adjusted EBITDA €125.9–126 million with a 16.2% margin; net profit up 7.5% to €61.7 million; net financial position €720.5 million..
• H1 2026 revenues €1,676.3 million, up 5.8% reported (8% at constant FX); adjusted EBITDA €283.7–284 million with a 16.9% margin; net income up 21.2% to €141.4 million; net cash position about €686.6–687 million and free cash flow €78.3 million..

Sunbelt Rentals Holdings Ord

Tom Russo bought $1.14M of Sunbelt Rentals Holdings Ord in Q1 2026. The company is emerging from a softer first three quarters with clear top-line acceleration, as fiscal Q4 2026 revenue grew 8.9% year over year to about $2.75 billion and rental revenue rose 8.0%, a marked step-up from Q3 revenue growth of 2.7% to roughly $2.64 billion and rental growth of 2.6%. However, margin pressure has tempered the story: FY26 adjusted EBITDA margin slipped to around 41.9% versus the prior year’s 43.9%, Q3 operating margin was only 18.7%, and investors have punished the stock around both the Q3 and Q4 prints due to concerns about profitability and cost inflation. Looking ahead, management is leaning into specialty rental and large project demand while using record FY26 free cash flow of about $2.1 billion (up roughly 23% year over year) to fund approximately $1.9 billion of dividends and buybacks and guide to mid‑single‑digit revenue growth of roughly 4.5–7.5%, which should support valuation as execution on margin recovery becomes clearer.

• Fiscal Q4 2026 total revenue grew 8.9% year over year to about $2.75 billion, with rental revenue up 8.0%..
• Full-year FY26 revenue increased 3.4% to about $11.2 billion, while adjusted EBITDA reached roughly $4.7 billion at a margin of around 41.9%..
• Record FY26 free cash flow of about $2.1 billion, up roughly 23% year over year, supported approximately $1.9 billion in total shareholder returns through dividends and share buybacks..

Total Return Securities Fund

Tom Russo bought $579.16K of Total Return Securities Fund in Q1 2026. Over the last two quarters, the fund's market price performance has deteriorated, with a YTD price return of -5.14% through July versus a strong +11.73% calendar-year gain in 2025, while NAV is up 6.50% YTD. In the current quarter, the shares are trading around $5.93–$5.95 with a market cap near $77 million and a widened discount to NAV of about -19.68% compared with a -16.01% 52‑week average, indicating ongoing price pressure and underperformance versus the Morningstar single‑country equity CEF category, which is roughly flat on a price basis YTD. Recent corporate actions—including a cash tender offer that purchased up to 4 million shares at $6.81 per share in January 2026 and a series of rights and tender programs over late 2025—are aimed at boosting shareholder value and narrowing the discount, providing a potential catalyst for price recovery if market conditions in Swiss equities remain supportive.

• YTD price return -5.14% vs category price return about -0.08% through 7/31/2026..
• Current share price about $5.93–$5.95 vs NAV $7.42, implying a discount of roughly -19.68% vs -16.01% 52‑week average..
• January 2026 tender offer bought up to 4,000,000 shares at $6.81 per share, above the current market price near $5.93..

Merck Inc

Tom Russo bought $257.54K of Merck Inc in Q1 2026. Over the last two quarters, Merck has delivered steady top-line expansion, with Q2 2026 revenue of $16.6 billion (up 5% year over year, 4% ex-FX) following Q1 2026 revenue of $16.3 billion (up 5%, 3% ex-FX), even as GAAP results showed a Q1 net loss of $4.24 billion or $1.72 per share driven by a $9.0 billion Cidara acquisition charge. In the current quarter, profitability remains temporarily depressed, with a GAAP net loss of $1.34 billion or a loss per share of $0.54 and a non-GAAP loss per share of $0.13 including a $2.31 per-share Terns acquisition charge, but an underlying gross margin of 73.5% and continued strength across oncology and animal health indicate the core franchise is still growing. Strategically, acquisitions like Cidara and Terns, strong Keytruda sales of $8.0 billion in Q1 (up 8% year over year), and raised full-year guidance to revenue of $65.8–$67.0 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $5.04–$5.16 support a thesis that recent investment and pipeline momentum could translate into accelerating earnings and potential valuation upside once one-off charges subside.

• Q2 2026 revenue $16.6 billion, up 5% year over year and 4% ex-FX.
• Q1 2026 revenue $16.3 billion, up 5% year over year and 3% ex-FX, with non-GAAP gross margin at 81.9%.
• Full-year 2026 guidance: revenue $65.8–$67.0 billion and non-GAAP EPS $5.04–$5.16, with EPS of $2.66–$2.76 including a $0.15 FX tailwind.

Added, Trimmed, and Exited

Added

Gardner Russo & Quinn added most meaningfully to Netflix (+605,901 shares, position value rising from $469.2M to $539.5M) and Doordash Inc Cl A (+70,728 shares, even as the stake's value fell from $210.7M to $150.3M on a sharp share-price decline). Smaller adds were made to Ssp Group (+40,000 shares), Levi Strauss & Co Cl A (+35,000 shares), Konecranes (+34,050 shares), Electrolux Professional (+30,000 shares), and Uber (+28,344 shares).
What it means: The firm leaned further into a streaming winner (Netflix) that has been performing well, while simultaneously averaging into Doordash weakness — a classic value-investing move of buying more of a name whose long-term thesis is intact even as the market marks it down sharply. The modest adds across European industrials (Konecranes, Electrolux Professional) and consumer names (Levi Strauss, Ssp Group) suggest continued opportunistic bottom-up buying rather than any single thematic bet.

Trimmed

The largest trims were in Alphabet Inc Cl C (-580,860 shares, -22.1% return), J.P. Morgan Chase (-380,019 shares, a steep -74.3% return as the position was cut by nearly three-quarters), Nestle Sa Sponsored Adr (-135,448 shares), Heineken Holding (-98,748 shares), Philip Morris International (-92,439 shares), Anheuser-Busch Inbev Sa (-81,515 shares), Pernod Ricard (-74,224 shares), Compagnie Financiere Richemont (-54,818 shares), Brown-Forman Corp Cl B (-48,485 shares), Comcast Corp New Cl A (-47,091 shares), Davide Campari Milan (-40,090 shares), Mastercard Inc Cl A (-30,858 shares), and Brown-Forman Corp Cl A (-20,216 shares).
What it means: This is a broad, multi-name trimming pattern rather than an isolated call, with the steepest cut coming in J.P. Morgan Chase, which was reduced by over 70% of its shares — a meaningful de-risking of a financial holding. The heavy trimming across the firm's traditional consumer-staples and spirits core (Nestle, Heineken, Philip Morris, Anheuser-Busch Inbev, Pernod Ricard, Brown-Forman, Campari) suggests the manager may be funding new purchases (like Sunbelt Rentals and Eurofins Scientific) partly by paring back long-held global staples and beverage names, even while keeping core positions intact.

Exited

Full exits were recorded in Ashtead Group ($418.1M position eliminated), Diageo ($2.8M), De'Longhi ($1.5M), Hyatt Hotels ($1.4M), Swiss Helvetia Fund ($0.9M), PNC ($0.8M), and IBM ($0.2M).
What it means: The largest exit, Ashtead Group, appears closely tied to the appearance of new positions in Sunbelt Rentals Holdings Inc and Sunbelt Rentals Holdings Ord of similar aggregate size, strongly suggesting a corporate restructuring or renaming of the underlying business rather than a true change in view — Sunbelt is Ashtead's core rental brand. Similarly, the De'Longhi exit is offset by a new De'Longhi position with a slightly different share count, likely reflecting a share-class or CUSIP reclassification rather than an actual sale. The remaining small exits (Diageo, Hyatt Hotels, Swiss Helvetia Fund, PNC, IBM) were minor tail positions, consistent with routine housekeeping in a concentrated, low-turnover portfolio rather than a shift in strategy.

Disclaimer: All posts are for informational purposes only. They are NOT a recommendation to buy or sell the securities discussed. Please do your own research and due diligence before investing your money.