Summary
The BUZZ NextGen AI US Sentiment Leaders Index (the “BUZZ Index” or “Index”) returned -6.46% during the month of September and trailed the S&P 500 Index by 1.60% year to date (14.32% vs. 15.92%, respectively.
The COVID-19 pandemic fueled the growth and profitability of many biopharma companies that benefited from the development of vaccines and treatments against the novel coronavirus.
Special Purpose Acquisition Corporations (“SPACs”) are an increasingly utilized structure in which ‘blank-check’ style companies raise cash with the goal of identifying a private company with which to merge.
Olivier Le Moal/iStock via Getty Images Political grandstanding in Washington pointed to yet another legislative showdown along partisan lines as a key deadline to raise the current debt ceiling approached. The fallout from China’s renewed hardline regulatory stance toward technology and other for-profit businesses, together with the potential default of a large Chinese property developer stoked fears of potential contagion across global markets. Surging COVID-19 delta variant cases resulted in lowered global growth expectations amid supply chain shocks. Finally, U.S. central bankers appeared to rethink the ‘transitory’ nature of their inflation expectations as they indicated a readiness to reversing pandemic stimulus programs as early as November, while guiding to an accelerated timeline for increasing the Fed Funds rate relative to earlier expectations; a decidedly hawkish tone, which caught many market participants off-guard. The confluence of the above events led to heightened investor anxiety, resetting global equities lower.
The BUZZ NextGen AI US Sentiment Leaders Index (the “BUZZ Index” or “Index”) returned -6.46% during the month of September and trailed the S&P 500 Index by 1.60% year to date (14.32% vs. 15.92%, respectively) but led by 11.65% over the last year (41.65% vs. 30.00%, respectively) as of the end of the month. Continue reading for details on recent performance and the latest Index reconstitution. Plug Power Leads Advancing Stocks within the BUZZ Index
Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG ) led advancing stocks during the recent period between selection dates of the BUZZ Index 1 . PLUG was first featured within the BUZZ Index during the October 2020 monthly reconstitution, debuting at a 2.39% weight. PLUG is a leading provider of comprehensive hydrogen fuel cell turnkey solutions. The company is focused on hydrogen and fuel cell systems that are used to power electric motors primarily in the electric mobility and stationary power markets. PLUG was trading near $17 per share when it first entered the BUZZ Index and over the course of the past year the stock has experienced significant volatility as investors rushed to gain exposure to alternative energy providers amidst the EV mania in late 2020 and early 2021. As the euphoria within the market segment cooled, shares of PLUG consolidated into a narrow trading range around $25. The shares recently broke to the upside, rallying over 30% as the company announced two new partnerships. The first, with refiner Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX ), is to explore ways to deploy PLUG Power’s technology within Phillips 66’s operations, while the second, with aircraft maker Airbus (Euronext Paris: AIR), sees the commercial aerospace giant and PLUG working together to investigate green hydrogen for use in air transportation. Top Contributors: September 9, 2021 – October 14, 2021 Company Ticker Average Weight (%) Return Contribution (%) Source: BUZZ Holdings ULC, Bloomberg. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Index performance is not illustrative of fund performance. Not intended as a recommendation to buy or to sell any of the securities mentioned herein. For a complete list of holdings in the ETF, please visit www.vaneck.com .
Biotech stocks Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX ) and Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA ) paced the top detractors from performance during the period between the September and October selection dates of the BUZZ Index. The COVID-19 pandemic fueled the growth and profitability of many biopharma companies that benefited from the development of vaccines and treatments against the novel coronavirus. Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK ) served as a catalyst for a broad sell-off in shares of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers as the company, together with its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, announced that their experimental drug Molnupiravir, an oral antiviral medicine, significantly reduced the risk of hospitalization or death in findings from a planned interim analysis of the phase 3 trial in at-risk, non-hospitalized adult patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Bottom Contributors: September 9, 2021 – October 14, 2021 Company Ticker Average Weight (%) Return Contribution (%) AMC Entertainment Holdings AMC 2.89 -0.59 Peloton Interactive Inc PTON 1.35 -0.33 Palantir Technologies Inc PLTR 3.08 -0.21 Source: BUZZ […]
source BUZZ Investing: Plug Power Provides A Jolt Amid Macro Pressures
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