Is First Trust NASDAQ-100 Ex-Technology Sector ETF (QQXT) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Launched on 02/08/2007, the First Trust NASDAQ-100 Ex-Technology Sector ETF (QQXT) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Because the fund has amassed over $229.98 million, this makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Growth. QQXT is managed by First Trust Advisors. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ-100 Ex-Tech Sector Index.

The NASDAQ-100 Ex-Tech Sector Index is an equal-weighted index based on the securities of the NASDAQ-100 Index that are not classified as technology and, as a result, is a subset of the NASDAQ-100 Index. The NASDAQ-100 Index includes 100 of the largest domestic and international non-financial companies listed on NASDAQ based on market capitalization.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for QQXT are 0.60%, which makes it one of the more expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.20%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

QQXT's heaviest allocation is in the Healthcare sector, which is about 20.1% of the portfolio. Its Consumer Discretionary and Industrials round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) accounts for about 2.35% of the fund's total assets, followed by Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG) and Biogen Inc. (BIIB).

QQXT's top 10 holdings account for about 21.33% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 8.17% so far this year and is up about 8.23% in the last one year (as of 12/22/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $84.34 and $101.22

The ETF has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 14.04% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 57 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

First Trust NASDAQ-100 Ex-Technology Sector ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Growth Index and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) tracks NASDAQ-100 Index. Vanguard Growth ETF has $201.58 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $406.24 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ changes 0.20%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Growth

Bottom Line

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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