When Dan Ives Names the Next AI Winners, Does His Own Fund Already Own Them?

On CNBC’s Morning Call Sheet on August 27, 2026, longtime tech analyst Dan Ives told viewers where the next dollars flow after NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) reignited the AI rally. His answer: hyperscalers Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, along with software names including Palantir and cybersecurity name CrowdStrike. Ives argued demand is accelerating 20% even in the last three months and told the audience “the AI party goes to 4 a.m.”

Here is the wrinkle. The exchange-traded fund that carries Ives’s name, the Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF (NASDAQ:IVES), already held every one of those stocks as of its most recent portfolio filing. The snapshot is dated April 30, 2026, filed under accession 0000940400-26-025062, and it lists 31 positions totalling roughly $996.99 million in net assets. The fund’s fact sheet, hosted by Wedbush Funds and dated May 25, 2026, shows a 0.75% net expense ratio.

Analysts talking about names they own is common practice, and disclosure is the norm. The public clip we have from this morning does not include an on-air disclosure that the IVES ETF holds these stocks, and the CNBC chyron identifies Ives as “dan ives of yorkville ives”, reflecting his move to a new venture after his July 1, 2026 departure from Wedbush reported by Seeking Alpha. The ETF’s fund family remains Wedbush.

What the IVES ETF Actually Held on April 30

Every stock Ives named on CNBC this morning appears in the April 30 filing. Position weights and share counts are shown exactly as reported.

These are point-in-time disclosures. Fund holdings shift, and the April 30 snapshot may not reflect current positions. The fact sheet, dated a few weeks later, listed Tesla as the largest position at 5.34% and Alibaba at 4.53%, with Alphabet at 4.62%, Apple at 4.62%, NVIDIA at 4.54% and Microsoft at 4.32%.

Names Ives Called Out, and What They Look Like Right Now

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported Q4 FY26 revenue of Microsoft Cloud at $59.3 billion, up 27%, with Azure surpassing $100 billion, up 41%. Satya Nadella said “demand continues to exceed available supply.” The stock trades near $499.04 and is up 3.29% YTD through August 26.

Alphabet (GOOGL) has been the more dramatic mover, up 65.58% over the past year and 9.41% YTD. Google Cloud grew 82% to $24.77B in the latest quarter, and Alphabet trades at a forward P/E in the mid-teens, cheaper than the rest of the AI-hyperscaler cohort.

Amazon (AMZN) delivered AWS revenue growth of 36.7% year-over-year, described on the call as its fastest growth in 18 quarters, with an AWS backlog of $496 billion. Andy Jassy told analysts AWS could become “a trillion dollar annual revenue business for us in time.”

Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) is the most expensive stock in the group, carrying a trailing P/E of 146 and a price-to-sales ratio of 69. The Q2 earnings report showed U.S. commercial revenue growth of 149% year-over-year and full-year guidance raised to $8.15 to $8.158 billion. Analyst consensus target sits at $191.68, with 1 strong buy, 19 buy, 10 hold, 1 sell and 1 strong sell.

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) is the wrinkle. The company reported Q2 net new ARR of $333 million, accelerating to 51% year-over-year growth and raised FY27 net new ARR guidance to $1.350 to $1.359 billion. Yet the stock closed at $189.18 on August 26, 2026, down 6.17% over the prior week, and reported earnings that same evening. Consensus target: $210.53, with 10 strong buy, 31 buy, 11 hold and 1 strong sell ratings.

Has the Fund Actually Earned Its Fee?

IVES is up 20.59% year to date through August 26, well ahead of the Nasdaq 100 ETF QQQ at 15.8% YTD and even ahead of NVIDIA itself at 12.55% YTD. Over one year the fund is up 37.73%. The 0.75% expense ratio is high compared to broad-market index products, but the fund has delivered relative outperformance so far.

The concentration works both ways. AI beneficiaries beyond the six Ives named on CNBC dominate the portfolio: AMD is the largest holding at 6.33%, Broadcom is at 5.44%, and Taiwan Semiconductor is at 4.95%. Names like CoreWeave, Nebius, IREN and Oklo add exposure to neocloud and AI-power themes. That is the part of the AI trade most retail viewers overlook, and we profiled seven of these suppliers (power, cooling, networking) in a free report on the AI boom beyond the chipmakers.

What Retail Viewers Should Take Away

The information gap is the real story. A retail viewer watching this morning heard a well-known analyst name six stocks. That same viewer may not know a low-cost index alternative like QQQ exists, or that a fund carrying Ives’s name already owned every one of those names, at a 0.75% expense ratio, in a 31-position concentrated portfolio. Whether the pick list works from here depends on NVIDIA’s supply story, hyperscaler capex, and CrowdStrike’s ability to convert its record Q3 pipeline into ARR. Ives himself said on air that demand is accelerating 20% even in the last three months. Jensen Huang, on his own call the night before, said NVIDIA expects to grow revenue by approximately 70% in fiscal 2028, a supply-constrained outlook.

Two independent signals worth watching next: whether CNBC or Ives publishes a disclosure covering the IVES ETF’s holdings on future segments, and whether the fund’s next portfolio filing shows additions or trims to the six names highlighted on air.

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