Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QQQ vs SMH: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QQQ returned +15.2% to SMH's +56.8%, and QQQ charges 0.18% to SMH's 0.35%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $483.0bn for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 and $71.1bn for VanEck Semiconductor ETF.
Pair scorecard
QQQ costs 0.17 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 41.6 points; QQQ is 6.8 times larger.
| Measure | QQQ | SMH |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +15.2% | +56.8% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Below its all-time high | 15.1%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Nasdaq-100 Index | Semiconductors |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | ahead by 43.4 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | 0.35% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $483.0bn | $71.1bn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 81% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 32% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | 69% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 30, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 773 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: QQQ against QQQM, Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026; SMH against ACWI, Dec 30, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026.
SMH returned more: +3,977.0% to +1,332.1%. QQQ swung less: 18.8% to 26.9%. QQQ fell less at its worst: −35.1% to −44.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QQQ | SMH | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +1,332.1% | +3,977.0% | SMH | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +19.6% | +28.3% | SMH | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +1,161.7% | +3,365.0% | SMH | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 18.8% | 26.9% | QQQ | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.4% | 17.5% | QQQ | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −35.1% | −44.2% | QQQ | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 100.4% | 197.3% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.2% | 117.1% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.40 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.63 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.96 | 1.00 | SMH (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.45 | 1.53 | SMH (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.145 | 0.192 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.56 | 0.64 | SMH | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | QQQM | ACWI | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | +12.6% a year | QQQ not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.58 | 2.95 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.2% | +4.2% to +20.9% | QQQ includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.10 | 0.96 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 17.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 773 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, QQQ and SMH hold 32% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
32% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QQQ and SMH on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QQQ and SMH do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. QQQ follows Nasdaq-100 Index and SMH follows Semiconductors.
- Holdings in common. 32% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 QQQ returned +15.2% and SMH +56.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 41.6 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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QQQ
QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.2% with distributions reinvested, against +15.2% for its benchmark, the Nasdaq-100 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 103 positions, with the top ten at 46.7%. It sat 4.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
SMH
By weight, 79% of SMH's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 81%. The top ten holdings are 69% of the fund across 25 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +56.8% with distributions reinvested against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Index, so a holder was ahead by 43.4 pts. It sits 15.1% below its all-time high of Jun 22, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are QQQ and SMH in the same category?
- QQQ is a stock ETF and SMH is a thematic ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, QQQ or SMH?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QQQ returned +15.2% and SMH +56.8%.
- Which is cheaper, QQQ or SMH?
- QQQ is cheaper, by 0.17 percentage points a year. That is about $17 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, QQQ against SMH, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-smh
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). QQQ against SMH. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-smh
[QQQ against SMH (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-smh)
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