US Large Cap Growth Equity Fund

Capital at risk. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product or strategy.

The listed funds are not an exhaustive list of funds available. Visit www.funds.troweprice.com to see the full range of funds offered by T. Rowe Price, including those that consider environmental and social characteristics as part of their investment process. For up to date information regarding any T. Rowe Price fund's investment strategy, please see the relevant fund KID and prospectus.

Overview

Strategy

Fund Summary

We look to identify stocks with the potential to deliver sustainable, double-digit earnings growth, capitalising on both secular and cyclical growth. We are patient investors, aiming to invest in companies trading at attractive valuations relative to their long-term potential and taking advantage of cyclical opportunities to build positions in high conviction names. The manager is not constrained by the fund's benchmark, which is used for performance comparison purposes only.

Performance - Net of Fees

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

30-Apr-2024 - Taymour Tamaddon, Portfolio Manager,

US equities were broadly lower in April on signs that progress in reducing inflation had stalled, raising concerns that interest rates would remain higher for longer. As measured by various Russell indices, large-caps fared best, followed by mid-caps and small-caps. Growth and value were essentially level in large-caps, while value outperformed growth in mid-caps and small-caps. Within the portfolio, stock selection in the consumer discretionary sector added the most value, led by our holding in an e-commerce company whose shares rose after it announced it would be increasing the monthly fee for its membership programme. An underweight position in the industrials and business services sector, which underperformed the broader market, also contributed. Similarly, health care boosted relative performance due to favourable stock choices. Here, our overweight position in a large managed care provider assisted as its shares advanced late in the month following better-than-feared quarterly results from one of its peers, which eased some investor concerns regarding industry cost trends. Alternatively, security selection in the information technology sector detracted, largely due to our underweight exposure to a large consumer technology company that outperformed the broader benchmark as its shares benefitted from some favourable sell-side commentary early in the month.

30-Sep-2022 - Taymour Tamaddon, Portfolio Manager,

In the third quarter, we decreased our exposure to certain names that face near-term headwinds or where our investment thesis had weakened. Our purchasing activity was focused on taking advantage of market weakness to add to high-conviction ideas throughout the portfolio. We also found compelling investment opportunities that we believe stand to benefit from unique growth drivers.

Communication Services

Within the sector, we continue to find attractive opportunities in companies with innovative business models that we believe can take advantage of transformational change. We favor companies with durable business models that address large and growing markets, including internet search and advertising, social connectivity, and entertainment.

We sold shares of Alphabet to manage our position size in light of weakening industrywide advertising demand signals. A slate of disappointing earnings reports released by peers during the quarter prompted investor concerns of a broad-based digital advertising recession. However, we remain encouraged by the deep moat that Alphabet has built around its core search franchise. Over the long term, we continue to believe that Alphabet, with dominant positions across everyday use internet utilities, combined with a world-class computing infrastructure and talent, is well positioned to extract value from the economy as the world becomes more digital.
We sold shares of Meta Platforms on heightened near-term risk/reward. An industrywide slowdown in ad demand has taken a toll on the social media giant's topline growth. Meta's advanced, hyper-optimized advertising solutions mean that the company faces a deeper reset than others as it designs workarounds to restore the signal loss resulting from Apple's iOS privacy changes. Meta is one of two leading platforms that we expect to benefit from a multi-decade transition from offline to online advertising, and it offers investors a rare combination of scale, growth, and profitability at an attractive valuation with multiple catalysts that include a collection of under-monetized surfaces and social commerce initiatives.

Health Care

Our allocation to the sector emphasizes select managed care companies positioned to benefit from industry consolidation as well as the increasing focus on providing cost-effective solutions. Innovative medical device and equipment manufacturers that are focused on meaningfully improving patient outcomes also represent some of the more attractive opportunities in the sector, in our view. Within the sector, we also have exposure to specific pharmaceutical names with strong balance sheets and diversified product portfolios.

We initiated a position in Eli Lilly. We are optimistic following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval in May of the new diabetes drug tirzepatide, which will be branded as Mounjaro. Robust sales volumes of cancer and COVID-19 antibody drugs are also encouraging. We believe that the company has several late-stage assets with high probabilities of success that should serve as catalysts over the next 12 to 18 months. We also expect Eli Lilly's base business to remain stable against competition and drug pricing pressures, and we are encouraged by management's goal of increasing the company's operating margin percentage over the next five years.

Consumer Staples

Our positions in the sector generally focus on companies in unique situations with the potential to develop sustainable competitive advantages?in particular, those that we think are on the right side of long-term structural changes in their respective industries.

We established a position in energy drink company Monster Beverage on weakness. The stock price slumped in response to Monster's second-quarter earnings release in early August, as the company reported its gross margin far below consensus expectations due to cost inflation. We like Monster for its durable topline growth and strong position in the fast-growing, high-margin energy drink category and think its setup improves from here as price increases take hold and input costs come down.

31-Jan-2024 - Taymour Tamaddon, Portfolio Manager,

We remain largely satisfied with the positioning of the portfolio. We are aiming for a balanced approach of ideas that can provide upside as well as defensive positions that can provide downside support if markets reverse course into a downturn. We continue to refrain from taking a pronounced stance on macroeconomic implications. Similarly, predicting election outcomes and subsequent market impacts is not an area of focus at this stage; however, as political agendas come into focus and the balance of political power crystalises, actionable idiosyncratic investment opportunities may present themselves.

30-Jun-2017 - Taymour Tamaddon, Portfolio Manager,

We bought shares of Starbucks during the quarter. We have liked the company for some time given its dominant global brand in both retail and consumer products channels. The coffee chain sells an addictive product and has a long runway for growth, particularly as it expands internationally. We also expect growth to accelerate due to increasing mobile order usage, new food and beverage innovation, and pricing increases.
We sold shares of Amazon.com on strength during the quarter. Although we trimmed our position size, the company remains a top holding as all indications continue to confirm that the long-term story remains intact. Improving profitability bodes well for future earnings given the healthy topline growth and operating leverage in the business.
We bought shares of medical device maker Becton, Dickinson & Company. We like the company's compelling risk/reward profile, and we believe it is poised to benefit from relatively steady revenue increases and balance sheet improvements. We are also positive on the company's pending acquisition of fellow medical technology company C.R. Bard, which could lead to scale benefits, non-U.S. growth opportunities, and cost synergies.
We trimmed our position in Danaher during the quarter to partially fund our purchase of Becton, Dickinson & Company, which we believe offers a more compelling risk/reward ratio. Danaher is a highly diversified producer of medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. While we like that the majority of Danaher's end markets offer secular growth or low cyclicality, we are less enthusiastic about the company's growth rate.

30-Jun-2017 - Taymour Tamaddon, Portfolio Manager,

Shares of PayPal Holdings traded higher following its latest quarterly report, with total payment volume and active accounts coming in higher than expected. Incremental user engagement across their product suite (PayPal, Credit, One Touch, and Venmo), combined with expanding strategic partnerships (Google, Wells Fargo, and Visa) bodes well for the company's mobile-first strategy aimed at enabling consumers with more convenient and affordable payment options.
Shares of Alphabet traded higher after the company reported another strong quarter of earnings. The diversification of products contributing to revenue growth continues to increase as YouTube, hardware, Google Play, and cloud now make up 18% of total revenue. While the search business is still a significant driver of revenue, it is encouraging to see the breadth and depth of its product offering expanding, which should support long-term durable revenue and profit growth through diversification.
Amazon.com shares rose following its latest quarterly report, with top- and bottom-line results coming in ahead of consensus expectations. Expansion of its fulfilment and logistics networks has helped drive accelerated growth and allowed it to meet the needs of its increasing global footprint. Amazon Web Services, the company's highly profitable cloud computing business, also continues to grow at a rapid pace. In our view, Amazon.com remains well positioned to compound at a healthy rate for several years as it continues to disrupt the traditional retail business model. Its recent bid to acquire Whole Foods is a prime example, as it would allow Amazon to establish an omnichannel presence and extend into new product categories while also expanding its services and private label offerings.
Shares of Tesla continued to trade higher as the company remains on track to begin production of the Model 3 in July. The overwhelming demand for the Model 3, Tesla's first mass-market car, confirms the broad appeal of all-electric vehicles and helps support the company's mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy and transport. Based on the high level of differentiated innovation at Tesla, we continue to view the company as a dominant player in the shift to autonomous vehicles.
Intuitive Surgical's robotic da Vinci surgical system continues to see growing adoption, helping propel its shares higher. Procedure growth is the engine of the business model and its latest quarterly results confirm a sufficiently broad and deep accelerating trend in that area. Growth is likely to get an additional boost as the company plans to roll out its new and previously undisclosed surgical system, da Vinci X, by year-end.
Humana reported solid first-quarter earnings, primarily driven by prior-period development in its Medicare Advantage business, sending shares higher during the period. The company also reported that its Affordable Care Act individual exchange business performed better than expected and management raised its 2017 guidance. While its merger with Aetna was shelved, Humana remains a possible acquisition target given its focus on the fast-growing Medicare market.

Indicative Benchmark Data Source: Russell. Frank Russell Company (“Russell”) is the source and owner of the Russell Index data contained or reflected in these materials and all trademarks and copyrights related thereto. Russell® is a registered trademark of Russell. Russell is not responsible for the formatting or configuration of this materials or for any inaccuracy in T. Rowe Price Associates’ presentation thereof.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Source for performance: T. Rowe Price. Fund performance is calculated using the official NAV with dividends reinvested, if any. The value of an investment and any income from it can go down as well as up. Investors may get back less than the amount invested. It will be affected by changes in the exchange rate between the base currency of the fund and the subscription currency, if different. Sales charges (up to a maximum of 5% for the A Class), taxes and other locally applied costs have not been deducted and if applicable, they will reduce the performance figures.

The Funds are sub-funds of the T. Rowe Price Funds SICAV, a Luxembourg investment company with variable capital which is registered with Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier and which qualifies as an undertaking for collective investment in transferable securities (“UCITS”). Full details of the objectives, investment policies and risks are located in the prospectus which is available with the key investor information documents and/or key information document (KID) in English and in an official language of the jurisdictions in which the Funds are registered for public sale, together with the articles of incorporation and the annual and semi-annual reports (together “Fund Documents”). Any decision to invest should be made on the basis of the Fund Documents which are available free of charge from the local representative, local information/paying agent or from authorised distributors. They can also be found along with a summary of investor rights in English at www.troweprice.com. The Management Company reserves the right to terminate marketing arrangements.

Please note that the Fund typically has a risk of high volatility.

Hedged share classes (denoted by 'h') utilise investment techniques to mitigate currency risk between the underlying investment currency(ies) of the fund and the currency of the hedged share class. The costs of doing so will be borne by the share class and there is no guarantee that such hedging will be effective.

Daily performance data is based on the latest available NAV.

The specific securities identified and described in this website do not represent all of the securities purchased, sold, or recommended for the sub-fund and no assumptions should be made that the securities identified and discussed were or will be profitable.

Attribution Data: Analysis represents the total performance of the portfolio as calculated by the FactSet attribution model and is inclusive of other assets that that will not receive a classification assignment in the detailed structure shown. Returns will not match official T. Rowe Price performance because FactSet uses different exchange rate sources and does not capture intra-day trading. Performance for each security is obtained in the local currency and, if necessary, is converted to U.S. dollars using an exchange rate determined by an independent third party. Figures are shown with gross dividends reinvested.

Sources: Copyright © 2021 FactSet Research Systems Inc. All rights reserved. MSCI/S&P GICS Sectors; Analysis by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. T. Rowe Price uses the MSCI/S&P Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) for sector and industry reporting. Each year, MSCI and S&P make changes to the GICS structure. The last change occurred on September 28, 2018. T. Rowe Price will adhere to all future updates to GICS for prospective reporting.

The Global Industry Classification Standard ("GICS") was developed by and is the exclusive property and a service mark of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc, ("MSCI") and Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ("S&P") and is licensed for use by [Licensee]. Neither MSCI, S&P nor any third party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications makes any express or impIied warranties or representations with respect to such standard or classification (or the results to be obtained by the use thereof), and all such parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any or such standard or classification, Without limiting any or the foregoing, in no event shall MSCI, S&P, any of their affiliates or any third party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.

A full list of the currently issued Share Classes including Distributing, Hedged, and Accumulating Categories may be obtained, free of charge and upon request, from the registered office of the Company.

©2023 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Communication Services

Health Care

Consumer Staples

Risks

Typical Investor