Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SMH vs XLK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SMH returned +56.8% to XLK's +27.1%, and XLK charges 0.08% to SMH's 0.35%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $71.1bn for VanEck Semiconductor ETF and $125.0bn for State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF.
Pair scorecard
XLK costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 29.7 points; XLK is 1.8 times larger.
| Measure | SMH | XLK |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +56.8% | +27.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 15.1%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | |
| Below its high | 5.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Semiconductors | Technology Select Sector Index |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | ahead by 43.4 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.35% | 0.08% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $71.1bn | $125.0bn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 81% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 44% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 69% | 64.6% |
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; XLK against SPY, Dec 31, 1998 to Oct 23, 2026.
SMH returned more: +3,977.0% to +1,639.1%. XLK swung less: 20.1% to 26.9%. XLK fell less at its worst: −32.6% to −44.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SMH | XLK | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +3,977.0% | +1,639.1% | SMH | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +28.3% | +21.2% | SMH | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +3,365.0% | +1,339.9% | SMH | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 26.9% | 20.1% | XLK | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 17.5% | 13.3% | XLK | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −44.2% | −32.6% | XLK | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 197.3% | 138.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 117.1% | 113.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.40 | 1.15 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.63 | 0.73 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 1.00 | 0.97 | SMH (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.53 | 1.47 | SMH (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.192 | 0.094 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.64 | 0.65 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWI | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +12.6% a year | +1.6% a year | XLK not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 2.95 | 0.67 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | +4.2% to +20.9% | −3.0% to +6.1% | XLK includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.96 | 0.22 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 17.4% | 12.6% | 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 XLK hold 44% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
44% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SMH and XLK on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SMH and XLK do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SMH follows Semiconductors and XLK follows Technology Select Sector Index.
- Holdings in common. 44% 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 XLK +27.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 29.7 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.
XLK
XLK tracks an index of Technology. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +27.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% 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 76 positions, with the top ten at 64.6%. It sat 5.4% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are SMH and XLK in the same category?
- SMH is a thematic ETF and XLK 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 XLK?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SMH returned +56.8% and XLK +27.1%.
- Which is cheaper, SMH or XLK?
- XLK is cheaper, by 0.27 percentage points a year. That is about $27 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 XLK, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/smh-vs-xlk
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