Artificial intelligence and selective consumer trends are quietly reshaping ETFs in 2026, but not all sectors are moving in lockstep.
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According to Eric Clark, portfolio manager of the Alpha Brands Consumption Leaders ETF (NASDAQ:LOGO) and chief information officer at Accuvest Global Advisors, discerning investors are increasingly focusing on winners within tech and consumer spaces rather than broad-market exposure.
Clark highlighted Amazon as a key example of a company firing on all cylinders despite market skepticism over capital spending.
“People love to just point to the capex spend, but that spending is happening at Microsoft. It’s happening at Meta,” he said. “It’s very odd, because Amazon in particular has a history of spending free cash flow when they have it for good ROI growth.”
With robust results across retail, ads and AWS, Amazon remains a major holding in consumer- and tech-focused ETFs, including mega-cap and cloud-centric funds like the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS:IGV) and the Global X Cloud Computing ETF (NASDAQ:CLOU).
In software, Clark argued the market has broadly discounted AI potential, leaving opportunities for companies actually deploying the technology across their operations.
“…if you’re demonstrating strong capabilities that allow AI to be deployed across the workforce and throughout all divisions, there’s significant benefit to be gained,” he said, citing ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW), Intuit Inc (NASDAQ:INTU) and Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) as examples. Active ETFs like LOGO are positioning for this dispersion, targeting AI-enabling software names while avoiding companies at risk of disruption.
Consumer ETFs are seeing a similar selective trend. Clark noted that U.S. spending remains divided.
“The upper part of the K, the higher income, with real assets and homes, they’re doing pretty well, and they’re spending really well,” he said. “The small, the lower income cohorts, are struggling, because inflation is still present in a lot of parts of our lives,” he added.
Value-focused retailers such as Walmart Inc (NASDAQ:WMT) and Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) are attracting attention in funds like the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSE:XRT) and VanEck Retail ETF (NASDAQ:RTH), while consumer staples ETFs such as the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (NYSE:VDC) offer exposure to defensive segments without relying on broad discretionary strength.
Clark also flagged credit usage as a signal of selective spending, noting that consumers are “using credit to fill the gap” in higher-price categories.
With employment conditions remaining the ultimate driver of discretionary spending, ETFs are increasingly taking sides in a market where winners and losers are sharply defined.
photo: iQoncept via Shutterstock
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