<div id="readability-page-1"><div>By Christine IdzelisValue stocks are on pace for the widest outperformance relative to growth equities in the first half of a year since 2022U.S. stocks ended higher Friday, as SpaceX made its highly anticipated public debut.Value stocks - shares of companies trading below their on-paper value - are putting up big gains this year that widely surpass growth equities, with investors appearing optimistic about earnings growth broadening beyond technology.The investor motivation behind value's biggest outperformance in years appears to be an increased comfort in the strength of the U.S. economy, a view that garnered support from strong May jobs data out last week.The Russell 1000 Value Index RLV has jumped 14.8% this year through Friday, beating the Russell 1000 Growth Index's RLG much smaller gain of 2.7% over the same period, FactSet data show. That left the value index on track for its largest outperformance in the first half of a year since 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data.Value stocks outperformed on Friday, with growth equities - those issued by companies ringing up better-than-average sales and earnings increases - nearly flat, even as the S&amp;P 500 index rose 0.5% and SpaceX's stock (SPCX) surged 19% in its first day of trading following its record-setting initial public offering. Investors may be rotating into areas of the stock market that are sensitive to economic growth, benefiting value-oriented sectors even as the artificial-intelligence trade still seems to appeal to traders.&#34;We're actually pretty optimistic about the returns for value stocks,&#34; said Dave Grecsek, director of investment strategy at wealth-management firm Aspiriant, in a phone interview. &#34;We're starting to open up a window here where these value-style businesses can get back to generating better earnings growth.&#34;Tech is still strong in terms of earnings growth, but now we're seeing much broader participation.&#34;The Russell 1000 Value Index has also outperformed over the past 12 months, although in 2025 it trailed the Russell 1000 Growth Index as Big Tech and the S&amp;P 500's information-technology sector XX:SP500.45 surged.Trades into value-oriented stocks and other underowned areas of the equities market, such as small-cap stocks, have room to run, according to Chris Galipeau, senior market strategist at Franklin Templeton. &#34;This is not a flash in the pan,&#34; as earnings power is broadening out, Galipeau told MarketWatch in an interview.The Russell 2000 Index RUT, a gauge of small-cap stocks in the U.S., finished Friday at a fresh record high, according to Dow Jones Market Data.&#34;We're overweight value stocks, and we're pretty excited about U.S. small-cap stocks right now,&#34; said Grecsek of Aspiriant.A look under the hood of the iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF IWD, an exchange-traded fund that tracks an index of large and midcap stocks in the U.S. that may be undervalued, shows financials was its biggest sector as recently as June 11.While information technology was its next largest sector, the value ETF's exposure to tech was much less than for the iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF IWF. Tech was around 52% of the growth ETF as of June 11.Financial companies, which are viewed as providing an early read on economic growth, appeared among the iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF's top 10 company holdings, along with information technology, energy, healthcare and Big Tech, as of the same date. Those holdings included Micron Technology (MU), Berkshire Hathaway (MX:BRKB), JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co. (JPM), Alphabet's Class A shares (GOOGL), Amazon.com (AMZN), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Alphabet's class C shares (GOOG), Johnson &amp; Johnson (JNJ), Intel (INTC) and Cisco Systems (CSCO).By contrast, the iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF's 10 biggest weights were dominated by Big Tech stocks as of June 11. The exception was pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly (LLY), which was its 10th largest holding.Wells Fargo Investment Institute is overweight financials, as well as tech, industrial and utilities, Scott Wren, the firm's senior global market strategist, told MarketWatch in an interview. Industrials and utilities should benefit from the AI boom, he said.The U.S. stock market closed higher Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, DJIA S&amp;P 500 SPX and Nasdaq Composite Index COMP all rising. All three benchmarks booked weekly gains, as SpaceX's public debut signaled investor confidence and oil prices (CL00) declined on the week amid resurgent optimism that the U.S. and Iran were nearing a peace deal.-Christine IdzelisThis content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones &amp; Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.</div></div>

U.S. value stocks are on pace for their widest outperformance relative to growth equities since 2022, driven by optimism about broadening economic strength and earnings growth beyond the tech sector. The Russell 1000 Value Index has surged 14.8% year-to-date, significantly beating the Growth Index's 2.7% gain. Investors are rotating into value-oriented sectors like financials and small-caps, with experts viewing this trend as sustainable rather than a temporary anomaly.

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JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 4.20% DEP SHS REPSTG 1/400TH PFD SER MM

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 6%NON CUM DEP SHS REP 1/400TH PFD SER EE

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. DEP REP 1/400TH (5.75% NON CUM PFD DD)

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 4.625% DEP SH RE 1/400TH INT NO CU PF LL

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 4.55% DEP SHS REPSTG 1/400TH PFD SER JJ

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 4.75 DEP SHS REP 1/400 NCUM PFD SR GG

'This is not a flash in the pan' - why value stocks are beating growth by such a wide margin