US Blue Chip 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

Through fundamental analysis, we search for companies that can deliver strong growth in earnings and free cash flow on a durable basis. We want to invest in high-quality companies with leading market positions in fertile growth fields. We are attentive to valuations and aim to avoid overpaying for growth, while broadly diversifying the portfolio. The promotion of environmental and/or social characteristics is achieved through the fund's commitment to maintain at least 10% of the value of its portfolio invested in Sustainable Investments, as defined by the SFDR. Additionally, we apply a proprietary responsible screen (exclusion list). The manager is not constrained by the fund’s benchmark, which is used for performance comparison purposes only.

Performance - Net of Fees

30-Apr-2024 - Paul Greene, 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 health care sector contributed the most, led by the outperformance of a pharmaceutical company whose management team increased guidance for the second half of the year, driven by strength in the company’s GLP-1 franchise. Consumer discretionary also assisted returns due to our stock choices. Here, our position in a fast-casual restaurant chain added value as investors responded positively to its better-than-expected first-quarter earnings release and increased 2024 guidance. An overweight position in communication services, particularly in the interactive media and services industry, further boosted relative performance. Conversely, the portfolio’s underweight allocation to the consumer staples sector, which finished modestly lower but outperformed the broader market during the month, detracted from relative returns.

31-Jan-2024 - Paul Greene, Portfolio Manager,

From a positioning standpoint, we continue to refrain from taking a pronounced stance on macroeconomic implications, and instead, we are aiming for a balanced approach of ideas that can thrive if the skies continue to clear, as well as defensive positions that can provide downside support. 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-Sep-2022 - Paul Greene, Portfolio Manager,

We eliminated our stake in Snap Inc. on an impaired investment thesis amid worsening near-term risk/reward. The company is weathering several headwinds, including a challenging economy, slowing demand for the company's online ad platform, the lingering impact of Apple's 2021 iOS privacy changes update, and rising competition. In response to these challenges, the company announced plans to slow its pace of hiring, invest in its advertising business, and find new sources of income. However, we are concerned that these moves will not adequately address the numerous challenges that the company faces.
We bought shares of Netflix on weakness as the stock continued to trade lower due to lingering concerns related to the company's decline in global subscribership during the first quarter. We are optimistic that the addition of an ad-supported subscription tier can help to extend the platform's growth runway and provide margin support. Going forward, we will be closely monitoring the company's trajectory of growth. We are mindful that the company faces high execution risk ahead of its advertising launch and password-sharing crackdown. While Netflix has produced an attractive content slate featuring both returning and new programs, the company will need to examine the historical correlation between content slate strength and gross subscriber adds.
Fortinet is the second-largest global network security provider to enterprise and telecom service providers. We sold shares on reduced near-term risk/reward due to a deteriorating macro environment and information technology spending outlook. Over the long term, we still view Fortinet as a share gainer in a high-growth industry with a technological advantage that should enable higher sustainable free cash flow and operating margins than peers.
We pared back our stake in Microsoft to manage our position size amid worsening macroeconomic conditions. An extended production shutdown in China, reduced operations in Russia, lower personal computer shipments, and foreign exchange headwinds had a negative impact on performance. We remain impressed by the outstanding performance of Microsoft's Azure cloud computing segment, which has become hugely additive to the company's overall business. Azure's strong performance has been complemented by an expansion in on-premises data center software. We continue to appreciate Microsoft's smart capital allocation and the potential of its push into analytics and artificial intelligence.

30-Sep-2022 - Paul Greene, Portfolio Manager,

Shares of electric carmaker Tesla rallied, drawing support from upbeat second-quarter earnings and higher net sales driven by the company's production ramp-up. Steady demand for electric vehicles, coupled with higher pricing and strong operational execution, also buoyed shares. We believe that Tesla stands to benefit from a faster ramp-up in production capabilities across its new factories in Austin and Berlin, along with a recovery in the electric vehicle (EV) market in China. We appreciate Tesla's leadership in the EV space and the company's high level of differentiated innovation.
Shares of Amazon outperformed as the troubled e-commerce segment demonstrated material reacceleration and margin improvement that complemented continued strength from Amazon Web Services and advertising. In our view, Amazon.com has three businesses (e-commerce, Amazon Web Services, advertising) that each are levered to durable secular growth themes, are attacking huge addressable markets, and have plenty of runway left for growth. The company also continues to reinvest profits into other segments like devices and video, which we think should bode well for future growth and enhance the overall value proposition of its expanding ecosystem.
Shares of UnitedHealth Group outperformed in relative terms. The stock was supported by a strong second-quarter earnings release, which was underscored by significant�upside from the insurance business and�continued revenue growth in its Optum business. We are encouraged by the managed care giant's strong execution and its much-improved medical loss ratio. We believe that UnitedHealth Group's ability to provide steady growth is underappreciated by the market. We view the company as well positioned, thanks to its leadership in the fast-growing Medicare Advantage market, as well as the Optum business, which captures a larger share of health care spending by providing services like care delivery, analytics, and prescriptions in a cost-effective manner that results in better outcomes for patients.
Shares of ServiceNow traded lower as macro uncertainty is forcing enterprises to apply additional scrutiny when it comes to information technology (IT) spend, which in turn is elongating the company's sales cycle and pushing deals out into future quarters. We believe that ServiceNow's high quality software-as-a-service offerings and strong platform should enable the company to continue to take share in its core IT service management market while also expanding to adjacent markets

Benchmark Data Source: Standard & Poor's. Copyright © 2023, S&P Global Market Intelligence (and its affiliates, as applicable). Reproduction of any information, data or material, including ratings (“Content”) in any form is prohibited except with the prior written permission of the relevant party. Such party, its affiliates and suppliers (“Content Providers”) do not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, timeliness or availability of any Content and are not responsible for any errors or omissions (negligent or otherwise), regardless of the cause, or for the results obtained from the use of such Content. In no event shall Content Providers be liable for any damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, or losses (including lost income or lost profit and opportunity costs) in connection with any use of the Content. A reference to a particular investment or security, a rating or any observation concerning an investment that is part of the Content is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold such investment or security, does not address the suitability of an investment or security and should not be relied on as investment advice.

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.

Daily performance data is based on the latest available NAV.

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.

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 © 2023 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.

Citywire Data Source: Citywire – where the fund manager is rated by Citywire, the rating is based on the manager’s 3-year risk adjusted performance. For further information on ratings methodology, please visit www.aboutcitywire.com.

Risks

Typical Investor