
Growth ETFs Outperform Amid Historic Market Comeback
Wall Street has staged a nice comeback in recent weeks from a low in early April triggered by Trump’s trade policies. Trade deal talks and solid tech earnings buoyed market sentiments. Cooling inflation added to further strength. The S&P 500 erased its 15% year-to-date loss in less than six weeks, marking the fastest recovery since 1982, according to Bespoke Invest.
While the rally has been broad-based, growth ETFs are outperforming. The ultra-popular
iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF
IWF has gained nearly 12% over the past month amid the historic recovery, easily outperforming its value counterpart,
iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF
IWD, which delivered a gain of 7.3%.
Investors seeking to tap the bullish trend should consider growth ETFs. We have highlighted five ETFs that have outperformed IWF over the past month. These are
Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF
RPG,
Pacer US Large Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETF
COWG,
Franklin Focused Growth ETF
FFOG,
Logan Capital Broad Innovative Growth ETF
LCLG and
First Trust Growth Strength ETF
FTGS.
The growth funds generally tend to outperform during an uptrend. Growth investing focuses on capital appreciation rather than annual income or dividends. It is a stock-buying strategy that aims to profit from companies that grow at above-average rates compared to their industry or the market. This is a more active attempt versus value investing to build up a portfolio and generate more return on capital investment. However, these funds offer exposure to stocks with growth characteristics that have comparatively higher P/B, P/S and P/E ratios and exhibit a higher degree of volatility, especially compared to value stocks.
Solid Macro Trends
The U.S.-China trade deal talks sparked a frenzy in the market. The United States has agreed to temporarily slash tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, while China will lower its retaliatory duties on U.S. goods from 125% to 10%. The temporary reduction in rates will run for 90 days (read: 5 Leveraged ETFs Soaring on U.S.-China Trade Truce).
The latest inflation data also supported the bullish sentiment. U.S. inflation in April cooled to the lowest level since February 2021. The Consumer Price Index, which tracks a variety of costs throughout the economy, rose 2.3% year over year in April, down slightly from 2.4% in March. The softer-than-expected data bolstered the case for the easing by the Federal Reserve.
Wall Street strategists are turning increasingly bullish once again on the S&P 500 outlook for the year, fueled by a 90-day truce in U.S.-China tariff tensions that has sparked a market rally. Goldman Sachs raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 6,100 from 5,900. Yardeni Research also lifted its forecast to 6,500 from 6,000, implying an additional 11% gain from current levels. Both firms cited easing concerns over a major economic slowdown as a key driver behind their optimism.