The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) has returned 80.24% year-to-date in 2026, outperforming the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), which returned 59.86% over the same period. This significant 20.4 percentage point gap is attributed to SOXX's more evenly distributed, capped weighting methodology, which has benefited from a broadening chip market leadership this year. In contrast, SMH's market-cap-weighted, concentrated approach, with higher exposure to top names like AMD, Broadcom, Micron, Taiwan Semiconductor, and Nvidia, has lagged as these larger positions underperformed relative to the broader sector. The Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXQ) also returned 72.20% year-to-date.