SMH Returned Over 120% in One Year. Is the VanEck Semiconductor ETF Still a Buy?

2 hours ago 1

David Dierking, The Motley Fool

Wed, April 15, 2026 astatine 10:20 AM CDT 4 min read

Semiconductor stocks person unquestionably been 1 of the market's biggest winners coming retired of the 2022 carnivore market. The artificial quality (AI) roar created unprecedented request for the chips indispensable to powerfulness the infrastructure. That's produced triple-digit gains for galore semiconductor exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the way.

One of those is the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SMH). Among the large nonleveraged semiconductor ETFs, its 51% mean yearly instrumentality implicit the past 3 years is the champion of the bunch.

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Naturally, that raises the question: Is it excessively precocious for spot stocks, oregon is determination much upside ahead?

Semiconductor spot   manufacturing.

Image source: Getty Images.
  • SMH's outperformance was driven by its concentrated holdings, including an 18% weighting successful Nvidia.

  • Semiconductor instrumentality income are expected to surge to $156 cardinal by 2027.

  • Roughly one-quarter of SMH's portfolio is successful instrumentality companies. This gives investors vulnerability to the full proviso chain, not conscionable spot designers.

  • The portfolio trades astatine astir 22 times guardant earnings, which is not unreasonable for a high-growth sector.

The lawsuit for spot stocks is beauteous straightforward. As companies, governments, and others proceed to physique retired AI capabilities, request for the chips to tally them besides grows.

Global semiconductor instrumentality income are expected to deed $156 cardinal by 2027. That would beryllium a large leap from their existent grounds precocious of $133 cardinal successful 2025.

The large megacap tech companies proceed to perpetrate hundreds of billions of dollars to AI development. While determination are questions astir the semipermanent instrumentality connected concern connected each that spending, it's wide it won't extremity anytime soon. That's a beardown bullish catalyst for spot stocks.

The biggest question astatine this constituent mightiness beryllium valuation. You don't privation to wage excessively overmuch for an investment, adjacent if it is 1 of the market's biggest maturation stories. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF presently trades astatine a guardant price/earnings (P/E) ratio of 22. That's tenable fixed however accelerated this assemblage is growing.

One hazard is that erstwhile maturation rates dilatory oregon peak, valuations are apt to declaration quickly. But I don't deliberation that's a hazard conscionable yet.

This ETF often gets compared to the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SOXX) since they're easy the 2 biggest funds successful this space. Here's a examination of the two:

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