Shares of Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) jumped 4.27% in after-hours trading on Thursday, April 27, 2017, owing to better than expected results. The company reported a year-over-year 22.2% increase in net quarterly revenues. It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate on both earnings and revenues in the first quarter of 2017.
Q1 Performance
Alphabet reported non-GAAP earnings per share of $7.73, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.24 and increased from $6.02 in the year-ago period. Moreover, revenues of $20.12 billion (excluding total acquisition costs) came ahead of the consensus mark of $19.65 billion. Operating income rose to $7.598 billion from $6.245 billion a year earlier.
Revenue Performance
Properties revenues (including Traffic Acquisition costs) were up to $17.403 billion from $14.328 billion a year earlier.
Network members’ properties revenues (including Traffic Acquisition costs) increased to $4.008 billion from $3.692 billion a year earlier.
Advertising revenues (including Traffic Acquisition costs) increased to $21.411 billion from $18.02 billion a year earlier.
Other revenues (including Traffic Acquisition costs) increased to $3.095 billion from $2.072 billion a year earlier.
Other bets revenues (including Traffic Acquisition costs) increased to $244 million from $165 million a year earlier.
Total traffic acquisition costs increased to $4.629 billion from $3.788 billion a year earlier.
In the current scenario, we believe it is prudent to discuss the following ETFs that have a relatively high exposure to Alphabet.
Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK)
XLK is a relatively cheaper bet on the technology sector. This fund has AUM of $17.21 billion and charges a fee of 14 basis points a year. It has 5.22% allocation to Alphabet (Class A) (as of April 27, 2017). The fund returned 28.74% in the past one year and 12.16% in the year-to-date time frame (as of April 27, 2017). XLK currently has a Zacks ETF Rank of #2 (Buy) with a Medium risk outlook.
iShares U.S. Technology ETF (NYSE:IYW)
This fund provides exposure to the U.S. technology sector. It has AUM of $3.37 billion and charges a fee of 44 basis points a year. It has a 6.13% allocation to Alphabet (Class A) (as of April 26, 2017). The fund returned 34.71% in the past one year and 14.58% in the year-to-date time frame (as of April 27, 2017). IYW currently has a Zacks ETF Rank of #2 with a Medium risk outlook.
First Trust Dow Jones Internet (NYSE:FDN)
This ETF offers exposure to companies that derive more than half of their revenues from the Internet. It has AUM of $4.16 billion and charges a fee of 54 basis points a year. From a sector look, the fund has high exposure to Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary, and Financials, with 70.01%, 19.80%, and 4.67% allocation, respectively (as of April 26, 2017). It has a 5.01% allocation to Alphabet (Class A) (as of April 26, 2017. The fund returned 32.03% in the past one year and 14.88% in the year-to-date time frame (as of April 27, 2017). FDN currently has a Zacks ETF Rank of #3 (Hold) with a High risk outlook.
Below is a chart comparing the year-to-date performance of Alphabet and the funds discussed.
Source: Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) Finance
To Conclude
Alphabet reported better-than-expected results. Its share performance has been impressive in the past year (up 25.93%) and year-to-date time frame (up 12.49%). Therefore, we believe the current scenario presents a strong case for investing in these ETFs with high exposure to Alphabet.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund was unchanged in premarket trading Monday. Year-to-date, XLK has gained 12.45%, versus a 6.51% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.
XLK currently has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #1 of 54 ETFs in the Technology Equities ETFs category.