2023 has been a strong year in US markets thus far with the S&P 500 (INDEX: .INX) up 17%. This has been led by tech giants like Apple Inc (NASDAQ:APPL), up 43.06% YTD, and Meta Platforms Inc, (NASDAQ:FB) up over 143% since the start of the year.
But few stocks have done as well as NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), up a whopping 202.4% YTD. NVIDIA's success, and that of much of tech, has come from its involvement in artificial intelligence. The company produces "superchips" that underlie the technology.
The excitement surrounding AI is palpable. The popularity of Chat GPT and other LLMs - large language models - has created what many consider an AI "hype cycle". It seems any mention of AI by a publicly traded company is enough to create an appreciable bump in its stock price.
But CNBC's Jim Cramer believes otherwise. The "Mad Money" host stated on his show that, "I know there's a lot of hype here, and in some individual cases it is overblown, but anybody who tells you that AI is pure hype, that person is only fooling herself."
Whether the hype is real remains to be seen, but AI and AI related technology remains a material part of the current economy. For investors looking to gain exposure, ETFs can be an attractive option, offering exposure to a basket of companies directly and indirectly involved in the AI industry.
The following are the best performing AI related ETFs since January 1st of this year.
Direxion Daily Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Automation Index Bull 2X Shares (NYSE:UBOT)
- Up 53.26% YTD
- $31.6 million in AUM
- Expense ratio of 1.35%
- 3 month average daily trading volume of 60,292
Spear Alpha ETF (NASDAQ:SPRX)
- Up 45.65%
- $11.5 million in AUM
- Expense ratio of .75%
- 3 month average daily trading volume of 27,097
iShares U.S. Technology ETF (NYSE:IYW)
- Up 42.65%
- $10.9 billion in AUM
- Expense ratio of .39%
- 3 month average daily trading volume of 856,483
Featured photo by Sigmund on Unsplash