iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SOXX) and VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SMH) have a lot in common.
Both track the semiconductor industry and are passively managed
Despite these similarities, SOXX is up roughly 68.37% YTD, while SMH is up about 51.83% YTD (as of Aug. 25, 2026). While both semiconductor ETF returns are impressive, the 16.54-percentage-point gap is notable. How SOXX hedges its bets The key reason SOXX ETF is likely to continue outperforming SMH comes down to how each fund spreads its money.
In SOXX, the top holdings are all relatively close in size. For example: – Nvidia is about 8.98%. – Micron is about 8.53%. – Advanced Micro Devices makes up about 8.05% of the fund. – Broadcom is about 7.30%. – Marvell is about 5.09%. In addition, other big names, such as Applied Materials, Texas Instruments, TSMC, KLA, and Lam Research, make up around 4% of the ETF’s holdings.