VWO Stock Recent News

Emerging market ETFs are coming off their best weekly showing in about a year. Both broad-based and country-specific ETFs tied to developing nations enjoyed their best stretch of inflows since December 2023 — to the tune of $6 billion.

Exclude China and broadly defined EM stocks are posting substantially softer results, based on a set of ETFs through Friday's close. US shares are effectively neck and next with EM so far in 2024.

Market strengths here… and abroad.

With the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cutting interest rates by a larger-than-expected 50 basis points in its September meeting, businesses throughout the country will be able to take out loans more cheaply. One intended goal of a rate cut like this is to foster increased profitability through business expansion.

There are some excellent opportunities for investors in international stocks. The iShares International Select Dividend ETF offers a portfolio of top-notch dividend stocks in developing countries.

VWO, the largest and one of the more cost-efficient EM ETFs, but lagged global markets over the past year, by generating returns of only mid-single-digits. VWO's dominant regions - China and India, which account for 51% of the portfolio, are likely to benefit from better consumption trends, even as the dollar drops to 7 month lows. EM stocks look oversold relative to their global counterparts and can be picked up at cheap valuations.

International and emerging market equities currently trade with extremely cheap valuations and somewhat above-average yields. VWO is the largest emerging market equities ETF in the market. Although there is nothing significantly wrong with the fund, it compares unfavorably to EYLD in several key metrics.

Niu Technologies NIU reported a fiscal first-quarter 2024 revenue growth of 21.0% to 504.7 million Chinese yuan ($69.91 million), mainly due to an increase in sales volume of 36.8% partially offset by a decrease in revenues per e-scooter of 11.6%. The company reported earnings per ADS of $(0.10). Adjusted net loss was CNY (48.5) million versus CNY (46.1) million a year ago. The stock price declined after the print. The number of e-scooters sold increased by 36.8% Y/Y to 129,139, with sales in China growing by 35.1%. International e-scooter sales climbed 47.6% to 19,024 units. The number of franchised stores in China was 2,878 as of March 31, 2024. The quarterly gross margin declined 280 basis points Y/Y to 18.1%, mainly due to the increased proportion of kick-scooter in international markets, and decreased gross margin of e-scooter in China market. The operating loss for the quarter was CNY (69.32) million versus a loss of CNY (67.02) million a year ago. The company held CNY 977.7 mill

By Jeff Weniger, CFA, Head of Equity Strategy Key Takeaways South Korea's classification as an “emerging” or “developed” market affects funds' allocations, with some emerging markets funds having no exposure to the country. The “Korea Discount” refers to the low valuations placed on South Korea's stocks relative to stocks in other countries.

VWO ETF has underperformed US and global equities in the past decade due to the decline of emerging markets. Investors were sold a growth story that did not materialize. I believe the Fund will continue to underperform in the future because emerging markets tend not to be shareholder-oriented and they carry a high political risk. Emerging markets are full of potential growth stories, but opting for a diversified Emerging Market ETF like VWO won't give you sufficient exposure to these opportunities.