Nvidia's Surge Ripples Across Stock Market — Lifting AI, Tech and Semiconductor ETFs

‘We think the near-term momentum in AI-related stocks is likely to continue,’ says CIO of UBS Global Wealth Management

Nvidia’s stock soared after releasing its earnings results Wednesday, with the company and its peers continuing to benefit from the artificial-intelligence craze.

Several exchange-traded funds that buy stocks with exposure to artificial intelligence surged Thursday after closely watched AI beneficiary Nvidia Corp. beat earnings expectations.

The Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ), which has around $3 billion of assets under management, closed 4.4% higher, according to FactSet data. Megacap semiconductor company Nvidia was the ETF’s biggest holding on Wednesday at around 18.9% of its net assets, holdings data on Global X’s website show.

“We think the near-term momentum in AI-related stocks is likely to continue,” said Solita Marcelli, chief investment officer for the Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management, in a note Thursday. “To position, we maintain our preference for semiconductors and software, and see opportunities in beneficiaries of AI edge computing, big tech, and their partners.”

Shares of Nvidia’s soared 16.4% on Thursday to an all-time high after the semiconductor company released its latest quarterly earnings results following the U.S. stock market’s close on Wednesday. The megacap chip maker’s big gains made it the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 on Thursday, propelling the large-cap index to a fresh record closing peak and fueling a sharp jump in its information-technology sector, in particular.

AI-related exchange-traded funds whose shares also surged Thursday included the Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF (CHAT) and the Invesco AI and Next Gen Software ETF (IGPT), each with around 5% gains, according to FactSet data. Both funds are much smaller than the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF based on assets under management.

Other AI ETFs that closed sharply higher on Thursday were the ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence ETF, Wisdom Tree Artificial Intelligence & Innovation Fund , Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF, iShares Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Multisector ETF, and ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index ETF, FactSet data show.

‘AI enthusiasm intact’

For now, Nvidia “has met lofty expectations and that will keep general AI enthusiasm intact and that is a positive for the market, broadly speaking,” said Tom Essaye, founder and president of Sevens Report Research, in a note Thursday.

“The question now is whether AI enthusiasm can continue to pull the market higher or if we’re now in need of new leadership to send the S&P 500 towards 5,100 and higher,” Essaye said. “The replacement for AI leadership isn’t evident on the surface.”

The S&P 500 index rose 2.1% Thursday to finish at about 5,087. The S&P 500’s information-technology sector jumped more than 4% on Nvidia’s surge, easily outperforming the index’s 10 other sectors, according to FactSet data.

Nvidia isn’t the biggest holding for all AI-themed ETFs, though.

For example, the chip maker ranked third in the iShares Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Multisector ETF on Wednesday with an almost 1.3% weight, data from BlackRock’s website show. ARM Holdings was the fund’s largest exposure at 1.7%, followed by Meta Platforms Inc. at slightly more than 1.3%.

Meanwhile, Nvidia’s surge on Thursday also lifted shares of semiconductor-focused ETFs.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF ended 4.9% higher while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF surged 6.8%, FactSet data show.

Nvidia, which was the biggest weight for both ETFs earlier this week, is among the so-called Big Tech companies that collectively represent an outsize weight in the S&P 500 index.

Big Tech stocks in the group of megacap companies known as the “Magnificent Seven,” which span across the tech, communication-services and communication-discretionary sectors, were all rising on Thursday, with Nvidia leading the way up. 

Shares of the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF — whose holdings include Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc. AAPL, Nvidia, Amazon.com Inc., Facebook parent Meta Platforms, Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Tesla Inc. — jumped 4.8% on Thursday. 

Nvidia also helped lift exchange-traded funds focused on tech stocks.

Shares of the Vanguard Information Technology ETF , Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund and iShares U.S. Technology ETF all climbed more than 3% on Thursday, according to FactSet data.

The U.S. stock market broadly rose , with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite leading major indexes higher with a 3% gain Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.2% higher, with software and computer-services companies posting some of the biggest gains in the index, according to FactSet data.