Semiconductor ETF Surpasses Nvidia with 69% Gain in 2026
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF has had an impressive year in 2026, rising around 69% as of midday on September 30. This far surpasses Nvidia's gain of about 23%. Micron Technology, Advanced Micro Devices, and Intel were among the top holdings in the fund, making up about 14% of its assets at the end of 2025.
The index that the ETF tracks has a cap on any one stock, limiting it to 20% of the total. As a result, Nvidia's weight had drifted to around 24%, but was capped back down to 19% after the September rebalance.
Despite Nvidia's impressive revenue growth, which surged 106% year over year in its fiscal second quarter of 2027 (the period ended July 26, 2026), much of the fund's gain came from companies that saw significant changes in their results. Micron Technology, for example, had a memory boom and reported revenue of $41.5 billion for its fiscal third quarter of 2026, over four times what it posted a year earlier.
The ETF's performance highlights the importance of considering the broader industry when investing in semiconductor stocks. By owning a diversified portfolio that includes both leaders like Nvidia and more cyclical companies like Micron, investors may be able to capture more of the market's potential gains.