Nvidia Vs. CrowdStrike: How ETFs Are Positioned for Dan Ives’ $4T Tech Spending Wave

Dan Ives is betting that the artificial intelligence buildout is far from over. The Yorkville Ives senior managing director said investors are underestimating the scale of a potential $4 trillion technology spending wave over the next several years, naming Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:PLTR), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRWD) as his top technology plays into 2027. For ETF investors, however, the bigger question may be whether there is a fund that can capture this thesis without requiring a five-stock portfolio. XLK Has the Heaviest Concentration The Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLK) currently offers the most concentrated exposure to four of Ives’ five picks. Nvidia accounts for 15.67% of XLK, Apple 13.18%, Microsoft 10.64% and Palantir 2.42%. Combined, those four stocks represented about 41.9% of the ETF. CrowdStrike is not among its top holdings. That concentration has helped XLK outperform broader technology benchmarks. The ETF gained 40% over the past year, compared with 22.4% for the Nasdaq-100. XLK also charges a relatively low 0.08% expense ratio. QQQ Offers a Broader AI Spending Basket The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) provides a less concentrated route into the same spending cycle. Nvidia represents 8.51%, Microsoft 5.8%, Apple 7.18%, Palantir 1.80% and CrowdStrike 1.16% of the portfolio. Importantly, QQQ’s exposure extends beyond Ives’ five names. Its portfolio includes companies across semiconductors, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity and data platforms — essentially multiple layers of the AI investment stack. AIQ Adds a More Direct AI Angle The Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (NASDAQ:AIQ) may be the more thematic option. Palantir was its largest holding at 4.14%. Microsoft holds 3.65% and Nvidia at 2.99%. Apple represented 2.75%, while Tesla was 3.11%. AIQ returned 30% over the year and manages about $10.6 billion in assets. The takeaway is that XLK provides the strongest concentrated exposure to Ives’ core technology picks, QQQ offers the broadest AI ecosystem exposure, while AIQ provides the clearest thematic bet on the spending wave. CrowdStrike may be the less obvious part of Ives’ thesis for ETF investors. While Nvidia dominates the AI infrastructure trade, cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important as companies deploy more AI, cloud and data infrastructure. Yet broad technology ETFs can have much larger allocations to chipmakers and mega-cap technology stocks. In XLK, for example, Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft account for nearly 40% of the portfolio, while CrowdStrike is not among the ETF’s top 10 holdings. QQQ does hold CRWD, but its 1.13% weighting is far smaller than Nvidia’s 8.32%. With CrowdStrike up 127% YTD, its performance highlights how the cybersecurity side of the technology spending cycle can get overshadowed by the much larger AI trade. Read Also: Starlink Cash Can Carry SpaceX's $40 Billion AI Tab, Dan Ives Says Photo: PJ McDonnell on Shutterstock