After taking a hit early last week on concerns about the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19, the three major indices bounced back strongly and ended the week at new highs. This was primarily driven by a spate of upbeat earnings and the continued optimism.
In particular, strong earnings from social media companies like Twitter
TWTR
and Snapchat
SNAP
bolstered investors’ mood. Earnings from
20.6%
of the S&P 500 companies reported so far are up 117.6% on 18.9% revenues with 90.3% beating EPS estimates and 85.4% beating revenue estimates. This reflects strong momentum on the revenue front both in terms of growth and the beat percentage (read:
SNAP Skyrockets Post Q2 Earnings: ETFs to Play
).
With the big five tech titans — Microsoft
MSFT
, Alphabet
GOOGL
, Apple
AAPL
, Facebook
FB
and Amazon
AMZN
— scheduled to report this week, the solid trend is likely to continue. Total Q2 earnings from the group of these five companies, which combined now account for 23.3% of the total market capitalization of the S&P 500 Index, are expected to be up
48.4%
on revenue growth of 29.2%.
Overall, combining the actual results for the index members that have reported with estimates for the still-to-come companies, total S&P 500 earnings are expected to be up 71.3% from the same period last year on 19.4% higher revenues, with the growth rate steadily going up as companies report better-than-expected results.
While the strong earnings trend has pushed many ETFs to new highs, we have highlighted those funds that directly or indirectly track the S&P 500 Index. Any of these could be a compelling choice to play the upcoming earnings given that they each have a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy):
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
SPY
The ETF tracks the S&P 500 and holds 505 stocks in its basket. It is the ultra-popular and most actively traded fund with AUM of $377.2 billion and an average daily volume of around 56.7 billion. The fund charges 9 bps in annual fees.
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF
IVV
With AUM of $293.8 billion, IVV is a lot smaller than SPY and less liquid, trading in an average daily volume of 4 million. It charges just 3 bps in annual fees, 6 bps less than the State Street product.
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
VOO
This ETF also directly tracks the S&P 500 Index and holds 507 stocks in its basket. It has amassed $240.7 billion in its asset base and charges investors 3 bps in annual fees. The product trades in an average daily volume of 3.5 million shares (read:
Will the Hot ETFs of First-Half 2021 Continue to Sizzle?
).
SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF
SPLG
This fund also follows the S&P 500 Index and holds 506 stocks in its basket with 0.03% in expense ratio. It has amassed $11.3 billion in its asset base and trades in solid volume of 1.7 million shares a day on an average.
Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF
XLG
This fund follows the S&P 500 Top 50 ETF Index, which measures the cap-weighted performance of 50 of the largest companies on the S&P 500 Index, reflecting the performance of the U.S. mega-cap stocks. It has been able to manage assets worth $2 billion but trades in a small volume of about 30,000 shares a day on average. Expense ratio comes in at 0.20%.
SPDR S&P 500 Growth ETF
SPYG
This ETF offers exposure to 239 stocks that exhibit the strongest growth characteristics by tracking the S&P 500 Growth Index. It has AUM of $13.3 billion in its asset base and trades in an average daily volume of 1.9 million shares (read:
A Quick Guide to the 25 Cheapest ETFs
).
Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF
RPG
This ETF also follows the S&P 500 Pure Growth Index, holding 73 stocks in its basket. It has amassed $2.8 billion in its asset base and trades in a moderate average volume of around 44,000 shares a day. The product charges 35 bps in fees a year from investors.
Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF
VOOG
This fund tracks the S&P 500 Growth Index, holding 239 stocks in its basket. With AUM of $2.9 billion, it has an expense ratio of 0.10% and trades in an average daily volume of 87,000 shares.
iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF
IVW
With AUM of $35.3 billion, this fund tracks the S&P 500 Growth Index and holds 239 stocks in its basket. It charges 18 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 1.7 million shares.
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