NVDA ETF Gained Most Last Week; QQQ Led Outflows

Single stock ETFs tracking Nvidia Corp. and Moderna Inc., two companies that reported quarterly results that beat expectations, were last week’s best performers while billions departing the popular QQQ may signal investors think the tech rally is losing steam. 

The $188.1 million YieldMax NVDA Option Income Strategy ETF (NVDY) gained 14% last week after the maker of semiconductors for artificial intelligence applications reported a fourth quarter that beat earnings and sales estimates and boosted its outlook for both. The fund uses covered calls to generate income. 

The week’s second-best performer was YieldMax’s $19.5 million YieldMax MRNA Option Income Strategy ETF (MRNY), which leapt 12%. The fund also seeks to generate income and follows Moderna, the pharmaceutical company that last week surprised investors by reporting fourth-quarter profit when a loss was expected. 

Both ETFs outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 as measured by the S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which rose 1.7% last week. 

Last week’s gain in the S&P 500 added to the 12% the index has appreciated over the past three months, which is the kind of return investors expect to see over a period four times as long. Those gains may have led to concerns that technology stocks—a handful of which being responsible for an outsized proportion of the index’s gains—are due for a breather. 

The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), with a 48% gain over the past year, led the week in outflows, shedding $3.49 billion. That was 1.4% of the funds’ assets. QQQ tracks a modified-market-cap-weighted index of 100 NASDAQ-listed stocks, and brings more risk that a broad index fund. It has gained thanks partly to the performances of a narrow pack of stocks, the so-called Magnificent 7, which includes Nvidia and Apple Inc.

Nvidia has more than tripled over the past year and its huge earnings day, and 16% stock jump on Feb. 22, may have led investors to put money into more conservative exchange-traded funds.

The biggest recipient of investor money last week was the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), a broad S&P 500 fund, which brought in $2.18 billion. The Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury Index ETF (VGIT) pulled in $1.73 billion while the iShares Russell ETF (IWM) brought in $1.44 billion. 

Below are top inflows and outflows for last week. The week's top performers can be found here.