How Montgomery v. Caribe Supercharges Knight-Swift’s (KNX) Scale Advantage

Riverwater Partners, an investment management company, released its 'Sustainable Value Strategy' Q2 2026 investor letter. The letter can be downloaded here. Small-cap stocks achieved their best first-half performance since 1991, with the Russell 2500 Value Index rising 17%, driven by the technology sector. The Sustainable Value Strategy underperformed its benchmark in the second quarter. The shortfall was driven almost entirely by stock selection, particularly the absence of SanDisk (SNDK), which rose approximately 720% year to date and contributed an estimated 6% of the Russell 2500 Value Index's 2026 return. Technology became the strategy's largest overweight at 17%, largely because index reconstitution sharply reduced the benchmark's technology allocation. Looking ahead to 2026, the outlook for small-cap equities remains constructive due to improving monetary conditions and attractive valuations, despite a lack of anticipated rotation toward higher-quality businesses. The firm remains committed to disciplined, quality-focused investing; historically, quality prevails over the long term. Additionally, reviewing the Fund's top five holdings could help identify its best picks for 2026.

In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Riverwater Sustainable Value Strategy highlighted Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX). Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) is a freight transportation services provider that operates through Truckload, Less-than-truckload (LTL), Logistics, and Intermodal segments. On September 18, 2026, Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) closed at $66.68 per share. Over the past month, Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) declined 3.53%, but its shares are up 68.90% over the past year. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, and its stock has traded within a 52-week range of $38.63 to $82.86.

Riverwater Sustainable Value Strategy stated the following regarding Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:

"We added Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) last quarter on the strength of two structural catalysts converging with a cyclical trough. The Montgomery v. Caribe Transport Supreme Court ruling in May established broker liability for negligent carrier selection, and permanently raised the bar for shippers and brokers using marginal, non-vetted carriers, favoring scale players like Knight-Swift with clean safety records over small fleets that have driven overcapacity. This structural tailwind landed on top of a freight cycle that has been in a rate/volume trough for roughly three years, with truckload spot and contract rates depressed since the post-pandemic capacity glut. The combination gave us a cyclical trough entry point (buying depressed through-cycle earnings power) layered with a durable, tort-driven demand shift toward larger carriers."