{"url":"https://etfiq.com/research/library/first-trust-etf-newsletter-october-2026/","section":"research","title":"ETF Newsletter - October 2026 (First Trust) | ETFIQ","description":"First Trust\u2019s paper \u201cETF Newsletter - October 2026\u201d, summarized by ETFIQ with its own data beside it. Summary by ETFIQ.","as_of":"Oct 21, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"Report","name":"Summary: ETF Newsletter - October 2026","headline":"ETF Newsletter - October 2026","url":"https://etfiq.com/research/library/first-trust-etf-newsletter-october-2026/","datePublished":"2026-10-21","dateModified":"2026-10-21","author":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"about":"Thematic ETFs","abstract":"First Trust's October 2026 ETF newsletter reports that its AIRR industrials fund fell 22.5% in the third quarter, as stocks tied to AI data centers weakened.","isBasedOn":"https://www.ftportfolios.com/Commentary/Insights/2026/10/19/an-airr-pocket-for-ai-data-centers-revisiting-the-opportunity","citation":{"@type":"Report","name":"ETF Newsletter - October 2026","url":"https://www.ftportfolios.com/Commentary/Insights/2026/10/19/an-airr-pocket-for-ai-data-centers-revisiting-the-opportunity","datePublished":"2026-10-15","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"First Trust","url":"https://www.ftportfolios.com/"},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"First Trust"}},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What does the First Trust paper conclude?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"First Trust's October 2026 ETF newsletter reports that its AIRR industrials fund fell 22.5% in the third quarter, as stocks tied to AI data centers weakened. The paper\u2019s own words are at the link above."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is a thematic ETF?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A fund that holds companies tied to one theme, such as AI or defense, picked by an index or a manager rather than by size alone."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Where can I read \u201cETF Newsletter - October 2026\u201d?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"On First Trust\u2019s own site. ETFIQ summarizes the paper and does not host it."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Research","item":"https://etfiq.com/research/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Library","item":"https://etfiq.com/research/library/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"First Trust","item":"https://etfiq.com/research/library/first-trust/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"ETF Newsletter - October 2026","item":"https://etfiq.com/research/library/first-trust-etf-newsletter-october-2026/"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"ETF Newsletter - October 2026 (First Trust)","description":"First Trust\u2019s paper \u201cETF Newsletter - October 2026\u201d, summarized by ETFIQ with its own data beside it. Summary by ETFIQ.","url":"https://etfiq.com/research/library/first-trust-etf-newsletter-october-2026/","dateModified":"2026-10-21","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".lede",".faq"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":3253,"truncated":false,"content":"ETFIQ / Research / Library / First Trust / ETF Newsletter - October 2026 \n \n Published Oct 15, 2026 by First Trust. Summary by ETFIQ as of Oct 21, 2026.\n ETF Newsletter - October 2026\n First Trust's October 2026 ETF newsletter reports that its AIRR industrials fund fell 22.5% in the third quarter, as stocks tied to AI data centers weakened. \n First Trust \u00b7 Issuer \u00b7 Read the full paper at First Trust \u2197 \n What it says\n Figures as stated by First Trust, Oct 15, 2026\n First Trust says AIRR's forward P/E fell from 24.9x to 18.1x over the quarter, against a 10-year average of 17.0x. (First Trust, p. 1)\n First Trust says the Q3 drop was AIRR's sixth decline of more than 20% since the fund began in 2014. (First Trust, p. 2)\n First Trust notes the 10-year US Treasury yield rose from 4.47% to 5.28% in the quarter, the highest since 2007. (First Trust, p. 1)\n First Trust cites an NBC News poll where 69% of respondents opposed a local AI data center, and SemiAnalysis's count of over 300 US cities and counties pausing or banning them. (First Trust, p. 1)\n First Trust, citing Aterio.io, reports 79 gigawatts of US compute capacity under construction and 433 gigawatts announced, against 54 gigawatts operating. (First Trust, p. 2)\n Related ETFs\n The funds the paper names that ETFIQ covers\n AIRR First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF: +1.2%\n Figure: total return, 1 year, to Oct 21, 2026, from each fund\u2019s page. All 415 thematic ETFs \u2192 \n Related papers\n State Street Investment Management \u00b7 Issuer \u00b7 Dec 3, 2025 \n Target AI and policy-led growth from US to emerging markets \n State Street Investment Management's December 2025 outlook says consensus 2026 capital spending estimates for major hyperscalers have reached $519 billion, up from $314 billion.\n Themes Read the paper \u2197 \n Investment Company Institute \u00b7 Industry body \u00b7 Jun 5, 2026 \n What\u2019s Next for ETFs: Innovation, Distribution, and the Investor Experience \n In June 2026, the Investment Company Institute previewed its Nashville ETF Conference of June 8 to 10, with ETF share classes, AI and tokenization on the agenda.\n Flows Themes Read the paper \u2197 \n BlackRock \u00b7 Issuer \u00b7 Jan 13, 2026 \u00b7 ETFIQ take\n 2026 Trends Shaping Investment Products \n BlackRock's January 2026 trends paper counts more than 4,700 ETFs in the U.S., with over a third launched within the last two years.\n Flows Themes Bonds Read the paper \u2197 \n All 8 papers on themes \u2192 \n Questions people ask\n What does the First Trust paper conclude? First Trust's October 2026 ETF newsletter reports that its AIRR industrials fund fell 22.5% in the third quarter, as stocks tied to AI data centers weakened. The paper\u2019s own words are at the link above. What is a thematic ETF? A fund that holds companies tied to one theme, such as AI or defense, picked by an index or a manager rather than by size alone. Where can I read \u201cETF Newsletter - October 2026\u201d? On First Trust\u2019s own site. ETFIQ summarizes the paper and does not host it. ETFIQ, ETF Newsletter - October 2026 (First Trust), summary, as of Oct 21, 2026. https://etfiq.com/research/library/first-trust-etf-newsletter-october-2026/ Free to use with attribution . Open data \n Summary by ETFIQ. ETFIQ is not affiliated with First Trust; logos identify the source.","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Figures ETFIQ computes are free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, ETF Newsletter - October 2026 (First Trust), summary, as of Oct 21, 2026. https://etfiq.com/research/library/first-trust-etf-newsletter-october-2026/"}