Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are a great way to gain exposure to the hot field of artificial intelligence (AI). ETFs provide a diversified portfolio of AI stocks while typically charging low fees.

A new AI ETF emerged recently, and what makes this one stand out is that it's overseen by Dan Ives, the global head of technology research at Wall Street firm Wedbush Fund Advisors. Naturally, the fund, the Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF (NYSEMKT: IVES), is named after its founder.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

But just because it sports the name of a well-known stock market analyst doesn't mean the ETF is a buy. Here's a deeper look into this new opportunity to invest in the hot field of artificial intelligence.

Image source: Getty Images.

What's in the Dan Ives ETF

Ives started his namesake ETF because he's excited about the transformative power artificial intelligence brings to every industry. He told Fox Business, "In 25 years covering tech, I've never seen a bigger theme than the AI revolution."

The fund is made up of 30 businesses across a number of industries ranging from semiconductor manufacturing and robotics to cybersecurity and consumer products. What ties these disparate companies together is that each has developed strong AI capabilities in their fields.

The Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF encompasses many key players in the AI space, including tech stalwarts Microsoft, Tesla, Apple, Palo Alto Networks, and of course, AI darling Nvidia. Some newcomers to the AI arena are also included, such as SoundHound AI and C3.ai.

All 30 stocks were handpicked using Ives' proprietary investment framework. Ives intends to actively manage the roster of companies in his ETF, and the plan is to reconfigure and rebalance the stocks quarterly. At the time of this writing, Microsoft has the heaviest weighting in the ETF at 5.65%.

Ives described this process to CNBC, saying:

It's based on our research. So as new companies come in, then some companies could come out. This is a living organism, in terms of this AI 30. It's not static. And that's a key part of the theme here, because the theme will continue to evolve.

More details about the Dan Ives ETF

While available to all investors, the ETF is aimed at retail investors. Ives explained there's "a heavy focus on retail for all the investors that follow me."

The Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF charges an annual fee of 0.75%, which is higher than several other AI ETFs. That's not surprising because the fund is actively managed, so investors will be paying $75 annually in fees for every $10,000 invested.

In fact, Cullen Rogers, chief investment officer at Wedbush Fund Advisers, told CNBC, "We're kind of walking this line between active and passive."

This is actually a strength of Ives' ETF compared to a passively managed fund. The AI industry is dynamic and evolving rapidly. Having Ives and his team researching and staying on top of who the important AI players are across diverse industries is essential to the fund's performance over time.

And Ives wasn't modest when he highlighted another reason to invest in his ETF, telling Yahoo! Finance, "There is only one Dan Ives." He elaborated, "There are plenty of other great vehicles out there, but there's only one that encompasses my investing team and the research that investors have trusted me to deliver."

Factors to weigh before investing in Dan Ives' ETF

Is there enough reason to invest in the Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF? It boasts a number of exceptional AI stocks. For example, it includes shares of Facebook parent Meta Platforms, which rose 42%, and Pegasystems, which skyrocketed 78% over the past 12 months.

But because the fund is so new, with an inception date of June 3, the ETF lacks a track record to assess how it's performed over time. Some of the veteran companies in the fund, for example, Nvidia, are a solid choice, but others, such as Soundhound, are newer businesses that may not succeed over the long run.

So there's risk this ETF can underperform the overall market. If so, you're better off opting for one of the ETFs focused on the S&P 500.

Moreover, the method Ives is taking with his fund warrants careful consideration. He told Yahoo! Finance: "I've never been too focused on valuations. It's about the themes, the best places, and the disruptors."

To say stock valuation is taking a bit of a back seat is concerning. It's also counter to how investing legend Warren Buffett approaches stocks. As Buffett has famously said, "It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."

As a result, before deciding to invest, wait to see how the ETF performs over the next few quarters. This gives you some history to evaluate whether Ives can deliver worthwhile returns in the dynamic, ever-evolving AI industry.

Should you invest $1,000 in Wedbush Series Trust - Dan Ives Wedbush Ai Revolution ETF right now?

Before you buy stock in Wedbush Series Trust - Dan Ives Wedbush Ai Revolution ETF, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Wedbush Series Trust - Dan Ives Wedbush Ai Revolution ETF wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $657,871!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $875,479!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 998% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 174% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025

Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Robert Izquierdo has positions in Apple, C3.ai, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Palo Alto Networks, SoundHound AI, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends C3.ai, Palo Alto Networks, and Pegasystems and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The hot artificial intelligence sector propelled many tech stocks upward in the past couple of years, among them server manufacturer Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI), commonly known as Supermicro. Its shares soared to a split-adjusted 52-week high of $101.40 last June.

But a series of bad news battered the stock. Shares plummeted to a 52-week low of $17.25 by November. Since then, the company has put this tumultuous period behind it, and its share price has risen.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Even so, the stock is down 66% over the past 12 months through April 17. Does this mean its shares are buying up? Or do reasons remain to steer clear? Let's dig into the company to find out.

Super Micro Computer's turbulent times

Supermicro's stock price drop this past year began in earnest when now-defunct short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the company of accounting manipulation in August. Then, management delayed filing its annual earnings report for the 2024 fiscal year, ended June 30. This was followed by its auditor resigning after raising concerns about the company's financial reporting.

As each of these dominoes fell, so did Supermicro's share price. The company risked having its stock delisted at that point, which already had happened once before, in 2018.

Management steadily addressed the issues. It gained a new auditor, accounting firm BDO. In December, a special committee investigating Supermicro's finances confirmed that the company's statements were accurate. In February, the company finally filed its annual report, along with two subsequent quarterly earnings statements.

With its challenges behind it, here's how Supermicro's business fared. In fiscal 2024, sales surged an impressive 110% over the prior year to $15 billion. The growth was due to Supermicro's server and data storage solutions, which were popular products to meet the hardware demands of AI systems. They contributed 95% of 2024 revenue.

After a successful fiscal 2024, that success extended into the first half of the company's 2025 fiscal year, ended Dec. 31. Revenue rose 100% once again to $11.6 billion, up from the previous year's $5.8 billion.

Super Micro Computer's era of growth

Supermicro's splendid sales gains enabled the company to end the first half of fiscal 2025 with net income of $744.9 million, up from $453 million in the prior year. As a result, diluted earnings per share (EPS) rose to $1.17 from $0.79 in the period.

The company's outstanding results so far in fiscal 2025 are a continuation of a multiyear stretch of sales and EPS growth. This period kicked off when businesses began investing in generative AI around the time OpenAI's ChatGPT debuted in 2022.

Data by YCharts; TTM = trailing 12 months..

However, Supermicro's streak of success is encountering a bump in the road. The company forecast fiscal 2025's full-year revenue to come in between $23.5 billion to $25 billion. While that's still significant double-digit growth over fiscal 2024's $15 billion, it's not the outsize sales jump seen in the last fiscal year.

The reason is that it can't keep up with customer demand. CEO Charles Liang said, "While most key components are ramping at full speed, it will take some time to fulfill our current AI solution backlogs."

The company has a new factory in Malaysia, but it will take time to get up to full capacity. As a result, Supermicro delivered a conservative revenue estimate for fiscal 2025.

Evaluating whether to buy Super Micro Computer stock

Supermicro's backlog is good news for investors focused on the long haul. As the company builds up more capacity to churn out products, it will be positioned to see increased sales growth.

In the short term, however, its shares are seeing a depressed valuation. Here's a look at Supermicro's price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), a way to tell how much investors are willing to pay for a dollar's worth of earnings.

Data by YCharts; PE = price to earnings..

Supermicro's P/E spiked in February after the company filed earnings reports that showed strong results. Since then, recent stock market volatility amid President Donald Trump's tariff plans have pushed down Supermicro's stock valuation.

Although it's not at the lowest point reached during the company's recent controversy, at the time of this writing, Supermicro's P/E ratio is lower than before the troubles began, suggesting shares are at an attractive price.

This, combined with strong sales and EPS growth and the prospect of future revenue expansion as it increases output, makes Supermicro a worthwhile long-term investment in my view. The compelling valuation, in particular, means now could be a good time to pick up shares.

Should you invest $1,000 in Super Micro Computer right now?

Before you buy stock in Super Micro Computer, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Super Micro Computer wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $532,771!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $593,970!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 781% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 149% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025

Robert Izquierdo has positions in Super Micro Computer. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) are doing something that seems quite unusual so far this year. The stock is up 17% year to date through April 17, and is stubbornly staying near the 52-week high of $73.95 reached on April 3.

The beverage giant's share price performance is excellent considering the recent stock market volatility, which clobbered many stocks, but so far has left Coca-Cola unscathed. Part of the reason for its share price resiliency is the conglomerate's solid business performance in 2024.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

With Coca-Cola stock up, what is best for shareholders to do now: buy, sell, or hold? Let's find out.

Coca-Cola's business growth

Coca-Cola's business performance has been going strong since hitting the skids during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an example, in the fourth quarter of 2024, the conglomerate experienced 6% year-over-year revenue growth to $11.5 billion while earnings per share (EPS) rose 12% to $0.51.

Q4 was only the latest quarter in a trend of steadily rising revenue and EPS in the years since both plunged amid the pandemic in 2021.

Data by YCharts.

Coca-Cola possesses many means to grow its business. According to CEO James Quincey, "By focusing on availability, basket incidence and cold drink equipment, coupled with great marketing, innovation and revenue growth management, our system recruited weekly plus drinkers, grew volume, and won share in 2024."

One example is the company's cold drink equipment, such as vending machines and grocery store coolers. Coca-Cola refers to this equipment as "one of the strongest consumption drivers in our system's toolbox."

Coca-Cola has 14 million cold drink units in operation today, and plans to expand this number. These machines are outfitted with sensors connected to the internet to deliver real-time diagnostics that help optimize sales.

Coca-Cola's stable source of passive income

Another factor contributing to Coca-Cola's share price surge is that it closed out 2024 with strong free cash flow (FCF) of $4.7 billion. The total FCF would have been $10.8 billion, a $1 billion increase over the prior year, if not for tax payments. FCF provides insight into the cash available to invest in the business, pay debt obligations, repurchase shares, and fund dividends.

Consequently, FCF is a key metric affecting Coca-Cola's dividend, currently providing a solid yield of 2.8% at the time of writing. The firm's large tax payment in 2024 was a one-off event, which is good news considering dividend payouts totaled $8.4 billion that year.

Coca-Cola's excellent FCF allowed the company to raise its dividend payment in February, marking an impressive 63 consecutive years of dividend growth. For 2025, Coca-Cola estimated FCF to reach $9.5 billion. This suggests another strong year of FCF generation ahead.

While its outstanding 2024 results caused shares to surge, the economic uncertainty introduced by President Donald Trump's tariff plans make Coca-Cola and other dividend-paying stocks more valuable. That's because if stocks drop or remain flat in a tough economy, your total return can still end up positive thanks to dividends.

As a result, if you already own shares of Coca-Cola, the best approach is to hold them. With its track record of dividend increases and strong FCF, Coca-Cola is likely to persist in providing that passive income produced by dividend payments for the long term.

To buy or not to buy Coca-Cola stock

If you own Coca-Cola shares, you shouldn't sell them, but what if you want to pick up the stock? Is now the best time to buy? To evaluate this, here's a look at the stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio compared to that of its major rival, PepsiCo.

The P/E ratio is a frequently used means of assessing stock valuation. The metric tells you how much investors are willing to pay for a dollar's worth of earnings.

Data by YCharts.

About a year ago, Coca-Cola stock was valued less than PepsiCo, but with this year's share price surge, that's reversed. Currently, Coca-Cola's P/E multiple of nearly 30 is markedly higher than its competitor's, which is hovering around 21, and this indicates Coca-Cola shares are expensive relative to PepsiCo.

Therefore, now isn't the best time to buy shares. Instead, put Coca-Cola stock on your watch list and wait for the share price to drop before deciding to invest.

Should you invest $1,000 in Coca-Cola right now?

Before you buy stock in Coca-Cola, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Coca-Cola wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $532,771!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $593,970!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 781% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 149% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025

Robert Izquierdo has positions in Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.