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How One Small Metals Firm Landed a Global Giant

It’s rare to see a small company move this fast.

In just two years, this North American explorer secured a partnership with $116B Rio Tinto, acquired four major properties, and began drilling for the metals that fuel both energy independence and defense readiness.

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The Cloud Computing ETF Every Growth Investor Should Consider

Submitted by Jordan Chussler. Originally Published: 1/18/2026. 

Glowing digital cloud above city skyline, data streams linking to network grid—symbolizing Cloud 3.0 investing.

Key Points

  • Cloud computing is expected to undergo a compound annual growth rate of 16% through 2033. 
  • As Cloud 3.0 becomes a reality, the Fidelity Cloud Computing ETF is likely to build on its 49% gain since the market bottomed last April.
  • The fund sports a low volatility beta of 1.01 and is assigned a Moderate Buy rating by analyst consensus.

Since Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN)launched Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the early 2000s, tech companies have been jockeying for cloud computing market share.

But over the past year, results for the stocks of companies involved in cloud computing have been mixed. For investors looking to capture gains as cloud computing evolves, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) with diversified cloud exposure can be an efficient option.

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The Fidelity Cloud Computing ETF (BATS: FCLD) fits that bill. After a year of modest gains that lagged the broader market, and with a new phase of cloud innovation on the horizon, FCLD could be positioned for stronger performance in 2026.

Preparing Your Portfolio for Cloud 3.0

Cloud 3.0 is welcome news for growth investors who fear they may have missed the earlier cloud run. Although cloud technology is now commonplace, it continues to evolve and requires recurring CapEx from large enterprises.

Industry consultancy Grand View Research estimated the global cloud computing market at nearly $944 billion in 2025 and forecasts it to reach roughly $3.35 trillion by 2033—a compound annual growth rate of about 16%.

Grand View points to major tailwinds, including “the ongoing shift from legacy on‑premises infrastructure to more scalable, flexible, and cost‑efficient cloud environments.” To stay competitive, firms across industries are modernizing applications, consolidating data platforms, and adopting dynamic and AI-driven pricing models that reduce CapEx and accelerate efficiency.

Cloud 3.0 refers to the next phase of that evolution, characterized by AI integration, advanced automation, distributed infrastructure, serverless microservices, and API/web-service orchestration.

A 2020 white paper by Navdeep Alam, senior director of global data warehousing for IQVIA, argues that “emerging Cloud 3.0 technologies will disrupt application development in organizations across all industries … To take advantage of Cloud 3.0, CIOs and CTOs must deploy a new enterprise architecture and upgrade their processes and technologies.”

That shift creates opportunities for innovators in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) spaces to meet enterprise software needs and, in turn, accelerate top-line growth.

A Well-Balanced, Low-Volatility Cloud Computing ETF

Launched on Oct. 5, 2021, the Fidelity Cloud Computing ETF is designed for investors who want exposure to that environment without picking individual winners.

Rather than selecting single names, the fund pools leading companies across cloud computing, SaaS, PaaS, AI data management, and workflow automation.

Over the past year, the fund has gained 8.55%. However, since the market sell-off last April, FCLD is up nearly 49%.

The ETF seeks returns that correspond to the performance of the market-cap-weighted Fidelity Cloud Computing Index.

FCLD’s allocations are well balanced, offering a lower‑volatility, risk‑off approach compared with holding individual cloud stocks. Its top-five holdings by allocation are:

The ETF’s ninth-largest holding, Workday (NASDAQ: WDAY), serves more than 11,000 customers, including over 65% of the Fortune 500. The fund’s tenth-largest weighting, Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK), was one of last year’s top-performing names, with shares gaining more than 977% over the past year.

Other notable holdings include Amazon, Docusign (NASDAQ: DOCU), and Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG), each with weightings between 2.83% and 1.88%.

Those balanced allocations produce a beta of 1.01, meaning FCLD’s volatility only slightly exceeds that of the S&P 500—making it a lower‑risk, lower‑volatility alternative to picking individual cloud stocks.

Institutional ownership, while modest, has seen buying exceed selling in nine of the last 10 quarters, with inflows of $3.26 million compared with outflows of $3.07 million over the past 12 months.

The expense ratio is 0.40%. With about $91 million in assets under management and an average daily trading volume of roughly 18,934 shares, liquidity can be light at times. Still, the fund carries an aggregate Moderate Buy rating based on 746 analyst ratings issued in the past year covering 23 companies in FCLD’s portfolio.

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Published by RJ Hamster

I was born on 6 August 1956 in San Francisco, California to Janet and (the late) Richard Hovis. I grew up in Santa Monica, California where I attended elementary, junior high school, and high school (graduating in 1974), in addition to involvement in sports and recreation (Little League +, the Boy’s Club ++). Further, it was in elementary school – St. Augustine’s By-the -Sea Parish School that I found, and made the choice to truly journey with God. I attended Arizona State University from 1974 to 1977 – seeking to become an architect, however, I was not accepted, and, as such, I graduated with a Liberal Arts degree. Upon graduation from Arizona State University, I attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studied City and Regional Planning at the Master’s level. I successfully completed one (1) year in a two (2) year program – I did not complete the Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning – due to personal reasons. I returned to Santa Monica where I started (October 1979) my career as graphic designer with Exxon Company, USA. I spent five years with Exxon Company, USA. While working with Exxon Company, USA I was accepted into architectural school – Sci-Arc in Southern California, however, I did not attend preferring to stay with Exxon.. In 1982 I married Laura Flosi and in April 1983 we had our one and only child – Lauren Alain Hovis – a gift from God. We moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1984 from Los Angeles, where I went to work as a graphic designer with Kitchell CEM (from 1985 -1987). From 1987 – 1995 I was an independent contractor, and a registered representative in mortgage finance, financial management, graphic design, and drafting. Further, I attended the University of Phoenix and successfully obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 1982. I was also a member of the Scottsdale Jaycees, where I became very involved in community events and projects. In 1994, I accepted a cartography position with the Defense Mapping Agency in Reston, Virginia. As such, I relocated from Phoenix to Reston. In 1998, I was accepted and worked as a Visual Information Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2002, I worked as a Support Officer until my retirement (due to a need for shoulder surgery) in September 2018. Away from my Federal Government service, I have been involved in various organizations and activities in Northern Virginia. In November of 2011, I married Rebecca Ouellette in Santa Monica, California. I reside in San Tan Valley, AZ with my two hamster - Jess and Timothy, our fish, our lizard - RJ Lizard., and our cats - Pearl and Grey. As to hobbies, I enjoy playing sports, attending sporting events, mentoring individuals from financial management to hamsters, building models, photography, travel, multimedia design, managing partner for RJ Hamster, and jazz – smooth jazz to a samba or a bossa nova. Love and God Bless, Peter – aka RJ Hamster Jo hi

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