Investors Abandon Equity ETFs While Remaining Loyal to Tech Stocks
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Sep 16 2025
0mins
Should l Buy AAPL?
Source: Benzinga
Market Trends: Despite a significant outflow of $10.44 billion from U.S. equity funds, technology-themed ETFs experienced a net inflow of $3.42 billion, marking their third consecutive week of gains.
Key Funds: The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) are leading the charge in tech investments, with XLK up 18% this year and QQQ favored for its focus on large-cap growth stocks in AI and semiconductors.
Sector-Specific Interest: Investors are increasingly drawn to semiconductor-focused funds like iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) and VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), which have seen price gains of 25% this year, reflecting strong interest in AI-related technologies.
Valuation Concerns: While technology funds attract investment, broader market ETFs like SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) are experiencing outflows, indicating a divergence in investor sentiment amid concerns over high valuations in the S&P 500.
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Analyst Views on AAPL
Wall Street analysts forecast AAPL stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for AAPL is 299.69 USD with a low forecast of 230.00 USD and a high forecast of 350.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
32 Analyst Rating
19 Buy
11 Hold
2 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 275.500
Low
230.00
Averages
299.69
High
350.00
Current: 275.500
Low
230.00
Averages
299.69
High
350.00
About AAPL
Apple Inc. designs, manufactures and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and sells a variety of related services. Its product categories include iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Wearables, Home and Accessories. Its software platforms include iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS. Its services include advertising, AppleCare, cloud services, digital content and payment services. The Company operates various platforms, including the App Store, that allow customers to discover and download applications and digital content, such as books, music, video, games and podcasts. It also offers digital content through subscription-based services, including Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple Music, Apple News+, and Apple TV+. Its products include iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16, iPhone 15, iPhone 14, iPhone SE, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, Mac Pro, iPad Pro, iPad Air, AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro and others.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- New Product Expectations: As the 50th anniversary approaches, Apple may introduce new foldable smartphones, and combined with the celebrations, this could attract more consumer attention, further driving sales growth and solidifying market position.
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- Content Strategy Shift: Apple plans to reduce external content acquisitions and focus on producing high-quality in-house content, leveraging its own studio to increase content output in response to competitive pressures in the streaming market.
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See More
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- Siri Update Delay: The long-anticipated AI update for Siri, initially expected to launch within weeks, has been internally postponed to May or later, raising investor doubts about Apple's competitiveness in the AI space and potentially impacting future market share.
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See More
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- Tech Stocks Dominate: The recent rally has been primarily driven by a handful of mega-cap tech stocks, such as Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple, leading to concerns about market overheating due to the lack of broader stock participation.
- International ETF Opportunity: The Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS) emerges as an ideal investment choice, featuring a low expense ratio of 0.05% and holding 8,646 stocks, providing extensive exposure to overseas markets, particularly in emerging markets and Europe.
- VXUS Strong Performance: VXUS has rallied 9% year-to-date while the S&P 500 has remained flat, indicating a shift among investors towards diversifying their portfolios away from the overheated U.S. market, which could further propel VXUS's growth.
See More
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See More
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- Memory Shortage Impact: The global memory shortage, driven by strong demand for AI chips from Nvidia, poses challenges for Cisco as production costs soar, particularly with large data center memory orders limiting the production capacity for other devices, further exacerbating market uncertainty.
- Lackluster Financial Outlook: Although Cisco reported better-than-expected quarterly results, the stock still dropped about 7% due to the company issuing a mediocre forecast, indicating insufficient investor confidence in future growth prospects.
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