SOXX Delivered Larger Gains Than XLK, but With Greater Risk and Volatility

11 hours ago 3

Jake Lerch, The Motley Fool

Sat, January 10, 2026 astatine 2:13 PM CST 5 min read

Both iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) and State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEMKT:XLK) purpose to springiness investors entree to the U.S. exertion sector, but they disagree successful scope and risk. SOXX zeroes successful connected semiconductor companies, making it much concentrated, portion XLK casts a wider nett crossed software, hardware, and IT services. This examination highlights which money whitethorn entreaty much depending connected your desired equilibrium of assemblage focus, cost, and show history.

Metric

SOXX

XLK

Issuer

IShares

SPDR

Expense ratio

0.34%

0.08%

1-yr instrumentality (as of Jan. 02, 2026)

42.0%

23.2%

Dividend yield

0.55%

0.62%

Beta

1.51

1.21

AUM

$17.7 billion

$93.4 billion

Beta measures terms volatility comparative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year play returns. The 1-yr instrumentality represents full instrumentality implicit the trailing 12 months.

XLK is importantly much affordable, charging conscionable 0.08% successful yearly expenses compared to SOXX’s 0.34%, and its output is somewhat little astatine 0.55% versus SOXX’s 0.62% — a humble quality for income-focused investors.

Metric

SOXX

XLK

Max drawdown (5 y)

(45.76%)

(33.55%)

Growth of $1,000 implicit 5 years

$2,599

$2,346

XLK holds astir 70 stocks and has been astir for 27 years, tracking the Technology Select Sector Index. Its portfolio covers astir the full exertion landscape, with apical positions successful Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) astatine 13.72%, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) astatine 12.82%, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) astatine 11.17%. This wide attack means vulnerability to hardware, software, IT services, and communications equipment, not conscionable semiconductors.

SOXX, by comparison, is made up of 30 positions wholly wrong the exertion sector, but with a crisp absorption connected semiconductors. Its largest holdings see Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), and Nvidia, unneurotic making up a important information of the fund’s assets. This assemblage tilt makes SOXX much delicate to spot manufacture cycles, portion XLK spreads hazard crossed much tech subindustries.

For much guidance connected ETF investing, cheque retired the afloat usher astatine this link.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) is simply a much specialized, higher-fee money with a absorption connected semiconductors, portion the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) delivers broader tech vulnerability astatine a overmuch little outgo and with greater scale.


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