No pair dominated ETF.com's comparison tool in the first half of 2026 more than the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) against the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), with 6,743 views. With the AI infrastructure buildout continuing to fuel explosive demand for chips, it's little surprise investors want to know which semiconductor ETF belongs in their portfolio.
On the surface, these two funds look nearly identical — same sector, overlapping holdings, nearly identical expense ratios (SMH at 0.35%, SOXX at 0.34%). But dig into the details and meaningful differences emerge.
The biggest distinction is portfolio construction. SMH holds just 26 stocks, making it a highly concentrated bet on the sector's largest players. NVIDIA alone represents 17.55% of the fund. SOXX, by contrast, holds 31 names and applies a more equal-weight tilt — NVIDIA sits at just 6.81% there, while Micron Technology and AMD each carry larger weights than in SMH.
That difference in construction has translated into divergent performance. Over the trailing year through mid-2026, SOXX returned 169.68% compared to SMH's 135.91% — a stunning gap driven in part by SOXX's heavier exposure to names that outperformed. Over three years, however, SMH holds the edge, returning 63.44% against SOXX's 56.95% CAGR.
Size is also a factor: SMH is the larger fund at $74.4B in AUM versus SOXX's $45.9B, and SMH's average daily dollar volume of $6.1B gives it a slight liquidity advantage. For investors who want pure, high-octane semiconductor exposure in a liquid wrapper, this debate isn't going away anytime soon.
On the surface, these two funds look nearly identical — same sector, overlapping holdings, nearly identical expense ratios (SMH at 0.35%, SOXX at 0.34%). But dig into the details and meaningful differences emerge.
The biggest distinction is portfolio construction. SMH holds just 26 stocks, making it a highly concentrated bet on the sector's largest players. NVIDIA alone represents 17.55% of the fund. SOXX, by contrast, holds 31 names and applies a more equal-weight tilt — NVIDIA sits at just 6.81% there, while Micron Technology and AMD each carry larger weights than in SMH.
That difference in construction has translated into divergent performance. Over the trailing year through mid-2026, SOXX returned 169.68% compared to SMH's 135.91% — a stunning gap driven in part by SOXX's heavier exposure to names that outperformed. Over three years, however, SMH holds the edge, returning 63.44% against SOXX's 56.95% CAGR.
Size is also a factor: SMH is the larger fund at $74.4B in AUM versus SOXX's $45.9B, and SMH's average daily dollar volume of $6.1B gives it a slight liquidity advantage. For investors who want pure, high-octane semiconductor exposure in a liquid wrapper, this debate isn't going away anytime soon.
26 days ago
