While the traditional industry leader, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), has arguably been struggling with stock market performance ever since it briefly crossed above a $5 trillion valuation, the semiconductor sector as a whole has been surging in 2026.
Specifically, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SMH) – an exchange-traded fund (ETF) with a stake in 25 chip-related firms and $5.9 billion in total net assets – is up 27.73% from $373.30 to $476.83 year-to-date (YTD).
Furthermore, April has been an especially strong month for SMH with the fund rising nearly 22% in just over three weeks.
SMH ETF price YTD chart. Source: GoogleIn the same timeframes, the benchmark S&P 500 stock market index has, despite hitting multiple all-time highs (ATH) in 2026, been sluggish. YTD, it is up 4.07% while it rose 8.56% in April.
S&P 500 YTD chart. Source: GoogleThe semiconductor SMH ETF top holdings performance in 2026
Examining the VanEck Semiconductor ETF’s top holdings, it is evident that Nvidia stock has, in contrast to its late 2022 to late 2025 run – been the biggest underperformer. NVDA shares are 7.91% up YTD and 13.43% up this month.
Nvidia stock price YTD chart. Source: FinboldStill, despite the blue-chip chipmaker being the ETF’s third-biggest position, it has done little to drag the fund as a whole down, thanks to the stellar performance of multiple other top holdings.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) and ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) – the two biggest stocks – are, for example, up 25.35% and 32.37% in 2026.
ASML and TSMC stock price YTD charts. Source: FinboldSimilarly, Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), Micron (NASDAQ: MU), and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) have also been surging since the year started. Indeed, AMD shares are up 40.42% YTD, MU 68.23%, and AVGO 20.90%.
Broadcom, Micron, and Advanced Micro Devices stock price YTD charts. Source: FinboldIntel (NASDAQ: INTC) has, despite being only the ninth-biggest position, accounting for 5.13% of the portfolio – only half as much as TSMC and ASML – has also been a significant upward contributor, having soared 79.68% in 2026 and 31.60% to $66.24 in April.
Intel stock price YTD chart. Source: FinboldLastly, and looking at the SMH as a whole, 2026 has been among the ETF’s top years since its inception date of December 1, 2020, considering the fund is, in total, up some 360%. Within the five-odd years, its shares each gained approximately $375 for a monthly average of $5.77, while the monthly average in 2026 has been approximately $26.
Featured image via Shutterstock
Source: https://finbold.com/semiconductor-stocks-are-crushing-the-sp-500-in-2026/
