2025 Year-End Review: Strategic Purchases and Anniversary Milestones
January 15, 2026
Dear Friend:
As we look back on 2025, the year was shaped by policy shifts, elevated volatility, and the resilience of the U.S. economy. The stock market delivered another strong year, with the S&P 500 finishing up 16.4%, marking a third consecutive year of double-digit returns. Performance was supported by solid corporate earnings, interest-rate cuts, and ongoing investment in artificial intelligence. The Communication Services and Technology sectors led the market, with price returns of 32.4% and 23.3%, respectively. While the so-called “Magnificent 7” (Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, NVIDIA, Meta Platforms, and Tesla) played a large role, the second half of the year also saw periods of rotation into small-cap and cyclical stocks as interest-rate pressures began to ease.
The year began with heightened uncertainty as markets responded to changes in fiscal and trade policy, followed by a late-year government shutdown. The introduction of new tariff frameworks was a major driver of market sentiment in the first half of the year. In early April, a sweeping set of tariffs impacted nearly every sector of the U.S. economy, triggering a sharp market response. Over the first few days of that month, the S&P 500 declined by more than 10%, reflecting a rapid repricing of risk rather than a deterioration in underlying economic fundamentals.
By mid-April, the announcement of a 90-day pause on several tariff measures led to a strong market rebound, underscoring how quickly sentiment can shift when policy expectations change. This served as a reminder that short-term market movements often reflect emotion rather than fundamentals. Our focus throughout the year was not on reacting to headlines, but on assessing how volatility created opportunities. During these periods, we selectively added two high-quality businesses, Amazon (AMZN) and Regeneron (REGN), to our portfolios.
Strategic Buy: Amazon (AMZN)
The “Liberation Day” tariffs initially weighed heavily on consumer-facing and technology-oriented stocks, as investors focused on rising input costs and potential supply-chain disruptions. We took a longer-term perspective and viewed the pullback as an opportunity to invest in a well-positioned company at a more attractive valuation.
Amazon’s scale and infrastructure remain central to its competitive positioning. Its global logistics network, combined with its high-margin cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services (AWS), provides resilience across a range of economic conditions. Through its fulfillment platform, including Fulfillment by Amazon, the company enables millions of sellers to store, pack, and ship products with same-day or next-day delivery. These capabilities are difficult for competitors to replicate.
Despite Amazon’s estimated 46% share of U.S. e-commerce, there are still categories where penetration remains relatively low. As illustrated in the accompanying chart, areas such as Consumer Packaged Goods (Including Grocery), represent under-penetrated segments of the broader retail market. We view this as an example of how Amazon’s infrastructure and scale can continue to support incremental growth over time.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues to provide an important stabilizing component of Amazon’s business. Through the first three quarters of 2025, AWS delivered approximately 18% revenue growth and maintained operating margins in the mid-30% range. Management has also noted that roughly 85–90% of global IT spending remains on-premises, suggesting a long runway for cloud adoption over the next decade.
April’s market volatility provided an opportunity to invest in Amazon at levels that we believed did not fully reflect the durability of its business model or its long-term cash-generation potential.
Strategic Buy: Regeneron (REGN)
That same discipline also guided our decision to add Regeneron, a biotechnology company, to the portfolio. Buying good-quality companies at attractive prices has long been a core part of our investment philosophy, even when it requires patience. We have followed Regeneron for more than a decade and have long admired its founder-led culture and commitment to developing therapies in-house. For many years, however, we remained on the sidelines due to the company’s concentrated product portfolio and its valuation at the time.
In 2025, a combination of factors created an opportunity to establish a position. As the market’s attention shifted toward AI-related stocks, many health care names were overlooked, while competitive pressures from biosimilars and regulatory delays also weighed on sentiment. This allowed us to add Regeneron, which we believe is well positioned within an area of medicine that we continue to find particularly promising.
Our research in pharmaceuticals has long focused on immune-targeted therapies, including treatments for cancer and inflammatory diseases. We believe that therapies designed to intervene or influence the immune system represent some of the most meaningful advances in medicine. Regeneron fits into this framework, given its research platform and growing pipeline.
For those less familiar with Regeneron, the following chart outlines its current product portfolio.
A Disciplined Perspective for the Years Ahead
As we reflect on our 30th year, we are reminded that market volatility is not a signal to retreat, but an opportunity for the disciplined investor. Our recent additions of Amazon and Regeneron reflect that philosophy: selectively adding high-quality businesses when market conditions create windows of value. We do not invest for the next quarter; we invest for the long term.
With Gratitude as We Begin Our 30th Year
As we begin the new year, we would like to express our sincere thanks to our clients, colleagues, and friends. Reaching our 30-year anniversary would not have been possible without the trust and relationships so many of you have shared with us over the years.
We are especially grateful to those who were able to join us in person to celebrate this milestone in November. Welcoming clients who traveled not only locally, but also from Kazakhstan, Ghana, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guatemala, Belgium, and beyond was a powerful reminder of the global lives our clients lead and the partnerships we have built across cultures and generations.
As part of this anniversary, we have been working on a commemorative book that reflects on the past three decades of Noesis. More than a history, the book was created as an educational piece. It is dedicated to the next generation and designed to share the principles, perspectives, and long-term philosophies that have guided us. We hope it serves as a meaningful resource.
We are pleased to share that the book is nearing completion and will be sent to you later this quarter.
Wishing You a Happy and Healthy New Year
As we look ahead, we want to thank you for your continued partnership and support. We wish you and your families a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year, and we look forward to continuing our work together with the same focus and long-term discipline that has defined Noesis.
We are also deeply appreciative of the confidence you place in us through your referrals. Your willingness to recommend our firm is among the highest compliments we can receive, and we are grateful for the opportunity to extend the same level of care and attention to those you entrust to us.
Sincerely,
Laleeta Hill, CFA Shihfang Chuang Jaclyn Letschert-Boschetti
