VWO Stock Recent News

The election victory has fueled a strong rally in US equities, but Trump's comeback is seen as a new risk factor elsewhere as Washington prepares to pivot to new edition of an “America First” policy. The latest surge in US shares has widened the lead for SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) year to date.

I am upgrading my rating on VWO from hold to buy due to improved fundamentals and technicals, despite questions about China's stimulus impact. VWO has shown strong performance, returning 20.7% since late last year, with a robust B+ ETF Grade and a high dividend yield of 2.55%. The ETF is well-diversified across sectors and has a favorable valuation with a price-to-earnings ratio under 14 and a PEG ratio barely above 1.

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