The Global X Social Media Index ETF (NasdaqGS: SOCL) gained 11.5% last month, narrowly missing out on being one of July’s 10 best non-leveraged ETFs.
SOCL’s torrid July pace was buoyed by a stellar earnings report from Facebook (NasdaqGM: FB) and subsequent surge in that stock. Shares of Mark Zuckerberg’s company briefly traded above the $38 IPO price multiple times this week. Yandex (NasdaqGM: YNDX), often referred to as the Google (NasdaqGM: GOOG) of Russia, has also contributed to SOCL’s upside. [Big Day for Internet ETFs]
Not that SOCL, which has $10.8 million in assets under management and a 0.65% annual expense ratio, needs it, but more help could be on the way for the fund. After the close of U.S. markets Thursday, LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD), the social networking site for professionals, reported a second-quarter adjusted profit of 38 cents on revenue of $363.7 million. Analyst were expecting EPS of 31 cents on revenue of $354 million.
The company forecast third-quarter revenue of $367 million to $373 million, though that is below the $384 million analysts are expecting. LinkedIn’s string of double- or triple-digit revenue growth goes back more than four year, according to Investor Business Daily.
The second-quarter report was enough to send shares of LinkedIn up 7.4% to $228.80, a new all-time high, during Thursday’s after-hours session. LinkedIn has nearly risen four-fold since its 2011 IPO. Thursday’s after-hours rally in LinkedIn is significant for SOCL because the ETF allocates 9.3% of its weight to the share, making LinkedIn SOCL’s fourth-largest holding. China’s Tencent Holdings and Facebook are SOCL’s two largest holdings. [Friending The Social Media ETF]
SOCL’s Thursday price action may have given traders a sign that LinkedIn was going to deliver blowout numbers. The ETF gained 2.8%, rising to a new all-time high on roughly 16 times the average daily volume. If there is a near-term risk to SOCL it is valuation. Like it many of its 27 holdings, SOCL sports a high P/E ratio of 30.39, nearly double that of the PowerShares QQQ (NasdaqGS: QQQ).
Global X Social Media Index ETF
ETF Trends editorial team contributed to this post. Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of Facebook, Google and QQQ.