Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SMH vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SMH returned +56.8% to SPY's +13.6%, and SPY charges 0.09% to SMH's 0.35%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $71.1bn for VanEck Semiconductor ETF and $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.26 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 43.2 points; SPY is 11.5 times larger.
| Measure | SMH | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +56.8% | +13.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 15.1%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Semiconductors | S&P 500 Index |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | ahead by 43.4 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $71.1bn | $814.8bn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 81% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 17% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 69% | 38.1% |
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: SMH against ACWI, Dec 30, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SMH returned more: +3,977.0% to +682.0%. SPY swung less: 15.6% to 26.9%. SPY fell less at its worst: −31.8% to −44.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SMH | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +3,977.0% | +682.0% | SMH | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +28.3% | +14.8% | SMH | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +3,365.0% | +505.6% | SMH | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 26.9% | 15.6% | SPY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 17.5% | 10.7% | SPY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −44.2% | −31.8% | SPY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 197.3% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 117.1% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.40 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.63 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 1.00 | 0.86 | SMH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.53 | 1.25 | SMH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.192 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.64 | 0.47 | SMH | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWI | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +12.6% a year | −0.1% a year | SPY not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 2.95 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | +4.2% to +20.9% | −0.3% to +0.1% | SPY includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.96 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 17.4% | 0.4% | 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, SMH and SPY hold 17% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
17% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SMH and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SMH and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SMH follows Semiconductors and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- Holdings in common. 17% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SMH returned +56.8% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 43.2 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
SPY
SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.
Questions people ask
- Are SMH and SPY in the same category?
- SMH is a thematic ETF and SPY is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, SMH or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SMH returned +56.8% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, SMH or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 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, SMH against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/smh-vs-spy
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