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Oracle ORCL shares have seen consecutive declines recently, prompting investors to reassess their positions. The first pullback followed last week’s earnings release, led by concerns about the company’s heavy investment in AI data centers and increasing debt.
The situation worsened this week after the Financial Times reported yesterday that ORCL’s largest data center partner, Blue Owl Capital, has refused to fund a massive $10 billion data center project. This news sent the cloud giant’s shares sliding another 5.4% to $178.46, deepening skepticism about Oracle's debt-fueled AI expansion.
For tech investors, Oracle's recent volatility might be discouraging, but it should not dissuade them from the tech sector altogether. Despite pockets of weakness, the technology sector’s landscape has delivered a remarkable collective journey in 2025.
For instance, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index (up 17.5% year to date) has comfortably outperformed the broader S&P 500 (up 14.5%) this year, driven by relentless innovation and corporate investment in artificial intelligence (AI). This illustrates a classic investment principle — holding a single stock carries company-specific risks, while investing in a basket of stocks via an ETF can provide a buffer against such downturns.
Tech ETFs allow investors to sidestep the turbulence of individual names like Oracle while maintaining exposure to the sector's powerful, long-term growth trajectory, which, apart from AI, is also driven by software and cloud growth.
Given ongoing investor concerns over AI overvaluation and skepticism about the tech sector’s growth, we will examine the situation more closely before highlighting several top-ranked Tech ETFs for your portfolio.
AI is not a niche trend confined to the tech sector; it has become a foundational technology transforming every industry, from healthcare and finance to manufacturing and software. To this end, the International Data Corporation (IDC) firm expects AI to contribute $19.9 trillion to the global economy by 2030 and account for 3.5% of global GDP in that year.
This stupendous growth expectation reinforces the fact that the AI revolution isn't just a bubble; it represents a structural shift where industries, along with economies, across the globe are projected to benefit. This growth is poised to benefit a wide ecosystem of companies, including semiconductor manufacturers, cloud infrastructure providers, and software developers, in addition to core AI-integrators.
By investing in a broadly diversified tech ETF, you gain exposure to this entire value chain. This approach mitigates the risk of betting on the wrong horse in the high-stakes AI race and instead allows you to participate in the collective advancement of the industry, which is backed by tangible, large-scale capital expenditure and demand.
Considering the above discussion, a tech ETF investor will have consistent exposure to the "winners" of the AI transformation, regardless of which individual company faces a temporary downturn. Against this backdrop, you may consider investing in the following five tech ETFs to gain exposure to the decade's biggest growth story while maintaining a balanced risk profile.
Vanguard Information Technology ETF VGT
This fund, with assets worth $112 billion, provides exposure to 322 technology software and services, technology hardware and equipment, and semiconductor and semiconductor equipment manufacturing companies. Its top three holdings include NVIDIA NVDA (16.60%), Apple AAPL (15.29%) and Microsoft MSFT (12.42%).
VGT has surged 18% year to date. The fund charges 9 basis points (bps) as fees and sports a Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy). It traded at a volume of 0.50 million shares in the last trading session.
State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF XLK
This fund, with assets under management (AUM) worth $90.20 billion, provides exposure to 70 companies from the technology hardware, storage, and peripherals; software; communications equipment; semiconductors and semiconductor equipment; IT services; and electronic equipment, instruments and components industries. Its top three holdings include NVDA (13.98%), AAPL (13.14%) and MSFT (11.42%).
XLK has soared 20.4% year to date. The fund charges 8 bps as fees and sports a Zacks ETF Rank #1. It traded at a volume of 18.18 million shares in the last trading session.
First Trust NASDAQ-100-Technology Sector ETF QTEC
This fund, with net assets worth $2.85 billion, provides exposure to 45 companies from the technology sector. Its top three holdings include Micron Technology (MU) (3.19%), Applied Materials AMAT (3.04%) and Advanced Macro Devices AMD (2.96%).
QTEC has soared 20% year to date. The fund charges 55 bps as fees and holds a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy). It traded at a volume of 0.27 million shares in the last trading session.
State Street SPDR NYSE Technology ETF XNTK
This fund, with AUM worth $1.43 billion, provides exposure to 35 U.S.-listed technology companies. Its top three holdings include Palantir PLTR (5.43%), MU (5.00%) and Lam Research LRCX (4.71%).
XNTK has surged 32.7% year to date. The fund charges 35 bps as fees and holds a Zacks ETF Rank #2. It traded at a volume of 0.05 million shares in the last trading session.
Pacer Data and Digital Revolution ETF TRFK
This fund, with net assets worth $365.8 million, provides exposure to 87 large-cap companies driving transmission, manipulation, storage, and use of data. Its top three holdings include Broadcom AVGO (10.49%), NVDA (9.91%) and ORCL (8.83%).
TRFK has surged 21.9% year to date. The fund charges 49 bps as fees and holds a Zacks ETF Rank #2. It traded at a volume of 0.30 million shares in the last trading session.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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