If you hold VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH), you already know it rides the AI wave.
Chip stocks have been setting the tone in 2026. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) is up 66.69% year to date, and the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) has done even better, rising 88.78%.
If you're interested in broad exposure to the Technology - Semiconductors segment of the equity market, look no further than the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on December 20, 2011.
Your feed is stuffed with NVIDIA takes. The most talked-about stock on Earth is up 13.25% year to date through July 10, 2026, and if you didn't own it, you probably feel like you missed the trade of the decade.
Emily Roland, Co-Chief Investment Strategist at Manulife John Hancock Investment Management, delivered a two-sided message on CNBC this morning: the fundamentals underpinning technology stocks are the strongest she has ever seen, yet the concentration those returns have created is rewriting the risk profile of nearly every diversified portfolio.
The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) dropped by over 6% in the premarket, reaching a low of $60.65, as memory shares tumbled following the latest Samsung earnings. DRAM has now dropped by over 25% from its highest point this year, and this trend may continue as a top analyst warns of a potential rotation from memory to hyperscalers.
A $100,000 long-term capital gain harvested from a semiconductor exchange-traded fund (ETF) at the 24% federal bracket generates a $15,000 federal tax bill at the 15% long-term capital gains rate.
Three years into the artificial intelligence buildout, hyperscaler spending has carried semiconductors from a cyclical play to the highest-beta vehicle in the equity market.
Tom Lee, Head of Research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, used a CNBC appearance on June 24, 2026 to argue that the latest sharp semiconductor pullback is the kind of dislocation long-term buyers should welcome.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) and the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) appear to be substitutes on a fund screener.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NYSEARCA:SMH) closed Friday at $599, capping a stretch in which SMH has returned roughly 146% over the past year and tacked on nearly 20% in May alone.
A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators on Monday urged President Donald Trump's administration to tighten rules on chip contract manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to prevent them from making advanced AI chips for overseas subsidiaries of Chinese companies.