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Key Takeaways
- With a market capitalization of more than $3 trillion, Apple is among the most valuable publicly traded companies in the world—and the largest holding in some of the most popular ETFs.
- A 6% surge in Apple’s stock price in intraday trading Tuesday, after its Worldwide Developer Conference, has been a big driver for many of the largest exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
- Technology-focused ETFs were the biggest beneficiaries of Apple’s price gains Tuesday.
- Investor enthusiasm for Apple’s newly announced AI tools has sparked hopes for an iPhone sales revival.
Apple (AAPL) shares surged 6% on Tuesday, leading to gains in some of the largest exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with heavy exposure to the tech giant.
Apple hosted its World Wide Developer Conference 2024 (WWDC24) on Monday and announced a new “Apple Intelligence” system, the company’s long-awaited move into generative artificial intelligence. The latest operating system upgrade will be one of the largest for Apple in years and will bring AI image creation, “Genmoji” custom emojis, text summarization, and the integration of the ChatGPT tool.
Apple Rally Boosts Tech ETFs
With a market capitalization above $3.1 trillion as of Monday’s market close, Apple is one of the most valuable publicly traded companies in the world. That makes it attractive as the largest component stock for many of the biggest and most popular ETFs available to investors.
ETFs with a larger exposure to Apple were powering ahead on Tuesday. The $67 billion Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) gained more than 1.5% with Apple as its second-largest stock holding, accounting for roughly 21% of its entire portfolio.
Apple ranks among the top three bets for the $17.7 billion iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) and the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT), comprising roughly 15% of each fund’s allocation leading to about 1% gains for them on the day.
Apple’s Effect on Broader ETFs With Big Stake
Among broader ETFs with significant Apple holdings, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) has $538.5 billion in assets under management (AUM), and a 6.2% exposure to Apple shares. The ETF was down 0.09% on the day, weighed by losses in the broader market.
Apple’s price gains had a more beneficial effect on technology shares. The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), with $275.5 billion AUM, was up slightly Tuesday, outperforming the S&P 500. The ETF tracks the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, and counts an 7.98% holding in the iPhone maker.
Apple shares are up around 19% over the last three months, following better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings. Some analysts are now hopeful that the new AI integration can reignite sluggish iPhone sales in coming quarters.
At 3:50 p.m. ET Tuesday, Apple had gained almost 7%, growing to more than $206 per share.