Latest news with #MicrosoftCorp
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Is iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF (CRBN) a Strong ETF Right Now?
A smart beta exchange traded fund, the iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF (CRBN) debuted on 12/08/2014, and offers broad exposure to the World ETFs category of the market. The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment. Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns. However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta. Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance. This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results. The fund is managed by Blackrock, and has been able to amass over $992.14 million, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the World ETFs. CRBN, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target Index. The MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target Index is designed to address two dimensions of carbon exposure ? carbon emissions and potential carbon emissions from fossil fuel reserves. Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. With one of the least expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.20%. It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.84%. While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis. Taking into account individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT) accounts for about 3.96% of the fund's total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA). The top 10 holdings account for about 21.12% of total assets under management. Year-to-date, the iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF has gained about 5.63% so far, and it's up approximately 15.18% over the last 12 months (as of 06/03/2025). CRBN has traded between $170.20 and $204.49 in this past 52-week period. The fund has a beta of 0.94 and standard deviation of 16.64% for the trailing three-year period, which makes CRBN a low risk choice in this particular space. With about 1006 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk. IShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider. Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV) tracks FTSE US ALL CAP CHOICE INDEX and the iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU) tracks MSCI USA ESG Focus Index. Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF has $10.17 billion in assets, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $13.38 billion. ESGV has an expense ratio of 0.09% and ESGU charges 0.15%. Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the World ETFs. To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF (CRBN): ETF Research Reports Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU): ETF Research Reports Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV): ETF Research Reports This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Business Times
19 hours ago
- Business
- Business Times
Why the S&P 500 is cruising through policy upheaval
IF YOU are wondering why the S&P 500 index has held up so well in the past two months, look no further than the technology and communications sectors, which collectively account for nearly half of the index by weighting. For all the wild and headline-grabbing swings in trade policy since early April, analysts have continued to project more than 14 per cent earnings growth in those combined sectors this year – an outlook that really has not budged. Wall Street is not ignoring the potential risks from tariffs and a consumer slowdown; analysts just think that America's innovation superstars will partially offset any damage. And reasonably so. Artificial intelligence (AI) poster child Nvidia Corp said last week that it had US$44.1 billion in revenue in the latest quarter, up an extraordinary 69 per cent from a year earlier. Microsoft Corp, the index's biggest company by weighting, posted a 20 per cent increase in cloud revenue last quarter, showing why its software-heavy model leaves it relatively insulated from tariffs. And Netflix, which successfully hiked subscription prices recently, said revenue jumped 12.5 per cent, reaffirming the resilience of its business model. None of this is to say that all is fine and dandy in the economy, but there is clearly a compositional element to the perceived strength of the main equity index. In addition to the sector-weightings issue, my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Nir Kaissar has pointed out that the companies with the heaviest weights also tend to enjoy extraordinary pricing power that will serve them well in the face of a trade war. That partially explains why the S&P 500 is back within spitting distance of its all-time highs, even as small-caps and mid-caps are still down about 17 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively. But even for large-cap stocks, the index outlook can be somewhat deceiving. Consumer discretionary earnings forecasts have not held up quite so well since President Donald Trump left markets in a tizzy with his Apr 2 'Liberation Day' tariffs on countries around the world. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up According to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence, Wall Street analysts now expect the S&P 500's consumer discretionary sector to post a 1.2 per cent earnings drop this year. Prior to Apr 2, analysts expected discretionary growth of 4.5 per cent. The outlook for the consumer staples sector has also been revised sharply lower. The revisions reflect a weaker revenue environment and – for discretionary in particular – narrower profit margins. The question now is what comes next. On the positive side, the US Court of International Trade ruled last week that many of Trump's tariffs are illegal. But as Goldman Sachs Group wrote, the ruling 'might not change the final outcome for most major US trading partners'. A federal appeals court on May 29 paused the Court of International Trade's ruling, and the White House plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. Even if it fails in its appeal, Goldman Sach's Alec Phillips said the White House could still reinstate many of the other tariffs through other legal means. A number of market participants think that Trump has experienced buyers' remorse over some of the tariffs (or 'chickens out' whenever market volatility rears its head). But if Trump were really looking for a chance to walk away from the policy entirely while still saving face politically, this ruling would be precisely that off-ramp. All indications suggest that he is not going to take it. On the macroeconomic front, the outlook is equally foggy. Revisions to first-quarter gross domestic product published on May 29 showed that consumer spending advanced at its weakest pace in two years, and higher-frequency data from the Bank of America Institute suggest that the consumer slowdown extended into April and the first part of May. The traditional labour market indicators have been decent, yet hiring remains extremely sluggish and continuing jobless claims are now at their highest since 2021. At the corporate level, even some of the superstar stocks are flashing warning signs, with tariff-exposed Apple expected to post just 'low to mid-single digit' revenue growth in its next quarterly report (though that depends on the outcome of tariff policy). Investors are also rightfully on alert for further headwinds to ad-driven businesses including Alphabet and Meta Platforms. As for the quintessential AI stocks including Nvidia and Microsoft, investors may one day find themselves on the wrong side of extraordinarily high expectations. But evidently that day is not today. There is a common bearish take that the market is ignoring the macroeconomic headwinds, and I do not think that is quite right. Yes, the S&P 500 is probably at the richer end of its fair value band, but it is not untethered from it. Mr Market seems to have the story generally right: a handful of innovation superstars continue to deliver other-worldly results. Another handful of consumer-based sectors are starting to struggle, due to the softening consumer and nonsensical trade policy that is apparently on the ropes. And beyond that, nobody has the faintest idea of what is going to happen next. BLOOMBERG
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Should You Invest in the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK)?
The Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) was launched on 12/16/1998, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Technology - Broad segment of the equity market. While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency. Sector ETFs are also funds of convenience, offering many ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Technology - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 7, placing it in top 44%. The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $71.94 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the performance of the Technology - Broad segment of the equity market. XLK seeks to match the performance of the Technology Select Sector Index before fees and expenses. The Technology Select Sector Index includes companies from the following industries: computers & peripherals; software; diversified telecommunication services; communications equipment; semiconductor & semiconductor equipment; internet software & services; IT services; wireless telecommunication services; electronic equipment & instruments; and office electronics. When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal. Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.08%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space. It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.68%. While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis. This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector--about 100% of the portfolio. Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT) accounts for about 14.40% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA). The top 10 holdings account for about 61.42% of total assets under management. The ETF has lost about -0.53% so far this year and it's up approximately 10.79% in the last one year (as of 06/02/2025). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $179.73 and $242.18. The ETF has a beta of 1.21 and standard deviation of 25.64% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 72 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk. Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, XLK is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Technology ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well. IShares U.S. Technology ETF (IYW) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index and the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Information Technology 25/50 Index. IShares U.S. Technology ETF has $19.45 billion in assets, Vanguard Information Technology ETF has $85.21 billion. IYW has an expense ratio of 0.39% and VGT charges 0.09%. To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK): ETF Research Reports Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report iShares U.S. Technology ETF (IYW): ETF Research Reports Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT): ETF Research Reports This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Big Tech Is Back in S&P 500 Driver's Seat as Profit Engines Hum
The same technology giants that helped drag the S&P 500 to the brink of a bear market in April are giving the recovery in US equities some legs. Nvidia Corp. put a bow on a better-than-expected earnings season for Big Tech last week by delivering a strong outlook for revenue, despite US restrictions on sales of its chips in China. With Nvidia and Microsoft Corp. rallying back to the cusp of record highs, traders are betting the group is poised to lift the broader market.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Microsoft unit in Russia to file for bankruptcy, database shows
One of Microsoft Corp's subsidiaries in Russia plans to file for bankruptcy, according to a note published on the official Fedresurs registry on Friday. Microsoft did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. President Vladimir Putin said this week that foreign service providers like Microsoft and Zoom should be "throttled" in Russia to make way for domestic software solutions. Microsoft continued providing key services in Russia after Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but in June 2022 it said it was significantly scaling down its operations due to changes to the economic outlook and the impact on its business there. The U.S. tech giant had already removed Russian state-owned media outlet RT's mobile apps from the Windows App store and banned advertisements on Russian state-sponsored media in the days after the invasion. The note posted on Fedresurs on Friday said that Microsoft Rus LLC was intending to declare bankruptcy. The TASS news agency reported that Microsoft has three other Russian units - Microsoft Development Centre Rus, Microsoft Mobile Rus and Microsoft Payments Rus. It was not immediately clear how those units might be affected. Alphabet-owned Google's Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in 2022, saying that the seizure of its bank account by Russian authorities had made it untenable for its Russian office to function, including paying Russia-based employees, suppliers and vendors.
