ETF Explainer: ESPO

Each month, we look at an ETF selected by ETF.com based on its performance and importance to investors. This month, we consider the performance of the $122 million VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF (ESPO). The fund has bounced back somewhat from the market crash in March, no doubt driven by demand for video games by housebound players. All the companies mentioned below are holdings in ESPO, unless otherwise noted (*).

MAY 20 Tencent Holdings says it will continue its aggressive investment practices despite the economic environment and investor concerns about slowing growth in core businesses.

JUN 10 Advanced Micro Devices stock has a multiday surge after announcing a strategic partnership with Samsung Electronics* and that Microsoft* will use an AMD chip in its new Xbox.

SEP 5 Activision Blizzard’s stock gets a boost from its release of World of Warcraft Classic—a repackaging of one of its core franchises—and an analyst upgrade.

OCT 31 Nintendo shares rise the highest they have in six months on news that profits for the quarter ended Sept. 30 outpaced analyst estimates due to strong Switch hardware and software sales.

FEB 19 NVIDIA stock sees its third record close after a Bernstein analyst raised his rating on the company. The multiday surge was sparked by record data center sales.

MAR 17 Ubisoft allows gamers able to download its game Assassin’s Creed Odyssey for free for the following weekend, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Bloomberg; data for 3/31/2019 to 3/31/2020