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In the third quarter of 2023, market volatility persisted as the ongoing struggle between unexpectedly stubborn inflation and the Federal Reserve’s tightening policies continued. A notable characteristic of the Q3 2023 market was the continued underperformance of high-growth technology and innovation stocks, despite many of them reporting robust fundamental results.
In July 2023, the Federal Reserve increased interest rates by a quarter-point, pushing the target range for the federal funds rate to its highest level since 2001, ranging from 5.25% to 5.50%. This marked the 11th rate hike as the Fed remained committed to combating inflation. Notably, there was no Fed meeting in August, but in September, the Federal Reserve decided to temporarily halt further rate hikes. However, Fed officials kept the possibility of additional rate increases open, hinting at a potential hike by year-end. Moreover, they indicated their intention to maintain elevated rates well into 2024. This development posed challenges for stocks categorized as growth or innovation-oriented by the broader market, leading Green Alpha strategies to face difficulties in keeping pace with the broader indexes throughout the quarter. In summary, market sentiment remained apprehensive in the face of these developments.
Adding to the jitters, some near-term economic risks remain that could further challenge markets. Political turmoil as the fiscal year-end approaches underscores these hazards. For example, a potential government shutdown looms as the quarter draws to a close without a legislative government funding agreement. Bipartisan support for a temporary deal exists, but challenges passing the House may briefly halt operations. More concerning, these battles foreshadow fiercer fights over 2024 funding: Failure to reach a year-end deal risks a prolonged shutdown or debilitating spending cuts.
Given fragile business and consumer confidence today, these disruptions could further deteriorate demand. For example, temporary funding gaps also freeze private sector projects relying on public funds. In this climate of high uncertainty, even brief shutdowns or spending cuts could dampen economic activity. While the growth opportunities from technology breakthroughs remain, navigating the political turmoil in the quarters ahead may test markets focused on near-term risks. This is the dynamic inherent to long-term investors working within more reactionary, short-term oriented markets: sometimes the timeframe mismatch is a benefit, other times not.
Business Results vs Market Sentiment: Q3 Disconnect
Meanwhile, despite Green Alpha’s recent underperformance, the underlying business results of our holdings have generally been excellent, including during Q3, revealing the disconnect between actual growth and market sentiment. For example:
- ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML), a company that holds the global monopoly on machines required to make advanced semiconductors, reported in Q3 that they were raising their FY23 outlook, and reported Q2 results that beat consensus estimates. And yet, during Q3 2023, ASML fell from ~$733 to $589, a 20% decline for the quarter.
- Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), which fell from $121 to $103 during the quarter, said during Q3 that it expects to add between $10B and $15B in annual sales via new product launches in oncology, rare, and latent diseases by 2028, while simultaneously reaffirming its 2023 sales guidance of $6B to $8B for its COVID-19 vaccine.
Many such examples of disconnect between business results and share price movements during Q3 exist within our strategies. In fact, at the portfolio-average level, revenue growth for companies in our ETF, the AXS Green Alpha ETF (NYSE: NXTE), at the end of Q3 stands at 41%, yet these stocks are trading at relatively inexpensive portfolio averages of 1.4 price-to-sales and 1.9 price-to -book. The comparable stats for NXTE’s official benchmark (SPDR Portfolio MSCI Global Stock Market ETF, SPGM) are 15% trailing sales growth, 1.6 price-to-sales, and a 2.4 price-to-book. The S&P 500 Index also exhibits slower growth than our NXTE ETF for still more expensive stocks, with comparable quarter end numbers of 15% sales growth, 2.5 price-to-sales, and a 3.8 price-to-book.
Growth Stock Headwinds Create Opportunities
This divergence highlights how dramatically sentiment has shifted against long-duration growth names as interest rates rise. Growth and innovation stocks are being heavily discounted even when business momentum remains intact. For stock pickers, this presents opportunities in compelling yet discounted growth companies whose operating trajectories remain strong through the turbulence. But patience is required, as the growth stock headwinds may persist until rates peak and recession fears abate.
The U.S. economy’s continued growth slowdown in Q3 underscores the need, ably demonstrated by growth from ASML and MRNA, for new innovations to boost productivity and economic momentum. Advancements such as DeepMind’s AlphaMissense showcase the potential of science and technology on this front. In mid-September, DeepMind released its AlphaMissense catalog covering the impacts of genetic mutations on proteins. Their AI categorized 89% of the 71 million possible missense variants as either pathogenic or benign – a scale 890x greater than human experts have managed. These exponential leaps in biotech analysis exemplify how AI can boost R&D output, hugely accelerating solutions to previously intractable problems. The downstream benefits include new healthcare treatments, more resilient crops, and reduced drug development costs. Plus, no doubt, dozens of applications and value creating opportunities no one has yet devised.
Embracing Innovation for Long-term Growth
Innovations like advanced semiconductor manufacturing, mRNA-based therapeutics, and AlphaMissense ultimately unlock enormous economic value by enabling new products and services. They are catalysts for growth. While headwinds like inflation and rising rates persist now, the productivity gains from tech breakthroughs will provide markets with meaningful tailwinds.
With the ongoing acceleration of innovation, it’s clear that the future economy will bear little resemblance to the present one. Green Alpha maintains that retaining investments in companies at the forefront of innovation remains the most prudent choice for achieving growth in long-term investment portfolios.
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Green Alpha is a registered trademark of Green Alpha Advisors, LLC. Green Alpha Investments is a registered trade name of Green Alpha Advisors, LLC. Green Alpha also owns the trademarks to “Next Economy,” “Investing in the Next Economy,” “Investing for the Next Economy,” “Next Economy Portfolio Theory,” and “Next Economics.” Green Alpha Advisors, LLC is an investment advisor registered with the U.S. SEC Registration as an investment advisor does not imply any certain level of skill or training. Nothing in this post should be construed to be individual investment, tax, or other personalized financial advice. Please see additional important disclosures here: https://greenalphaadvisors.com/about-us/legal-disclaimers/
At the time this was published, some Green Alpha client portfolios held long positions in ASML Holding (ticker ASML) and/or Moderna (ticker MRNA). This holding does not represent all of the securities purchased, sold, or recommended for advisory clients. You may request a list of all recommendations made by Green Alpha in the past year by emailing a request to any of us. It should not be assumed that the recommendations made in the past or future were or will be profitable or equal the performance of the security cited as an example in this recording. To inquire whether a specific Green Alpha portfolio(s) holds stock in any particular company, please email us.
The AXS Green Alpha ETF (NXTE) is distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc., which is not affiliated with AXS Investments or Green Alpha Advisors. There are risks involved with investing, including possible loss of principal. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the fund before investing. Please see the Fund’s website for important documents, such as the prospectus, and contact information to learn more about the AXS Sustainable Income Fund. A prospectus should be read carefully before investing.