Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SOXX vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SOXX returned +72.0% to SPY's +13.6%, and SPY charges 0.09% to SOXX's 0.33%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $48.3bn for iShares Semiconductor ETF and $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.24 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 58.4 points; SPY is 16.9 times larger.
| Measure | SOXX | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +72.0% | +13.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 20.3%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Semiconductors | S&P 500 Index |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | ahead by 58.7 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.33% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $48.3bn | $814.8bn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 82% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 17% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 62% | 38.1% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jul 20, 2001 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,318 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SOXX against PBUS, Sep 29, 2017 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SOXX returned more: +2,383.8% to +886.7%. SPY swung less: 17.5% to 31.0%. SPY fell less at its worst: −54.6% to −68.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SOXX | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +2,383.8% | +886.7% | SOXX | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.5% | +9.5% | SOXX | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +1,924.8% | +526.3% | SOXX | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 31.0% | 17.5% | SPY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 21.2% | 12.4% | SPY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −68.4% | −54.6% | SPY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 212.4% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 123.4% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.38 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.59 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.51 | 0.50 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.74 | 0.71 | SOXX (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.200 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.20 | 0.17 | SOXX | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | PBUS | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +10.2% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 1.48 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −3.3% to +23.7% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.69 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 21.7% | 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, 1,318 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SOXX 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
SOXX and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SOXX and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SOXX 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 SOXX returned +72.0% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 58.4 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SOXX
By weight, 74% of SOXX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 82%. The top ten holdings are 62% of the fund across 31 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +72.0% with distributions reinvested against +13.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index, so a holder was ahead by 58.7 pts. It sits 20.3% 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 SOXX and SPY in the same category?
- SOXX 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, SOXX or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SOXX returned +72.0% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, SOXX or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.24 percentage points a year. That is about $24 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, SOXX against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/soxx-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SOXX against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/soxx-vs-spy
[SOXX against SPY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/soxx-vs-spy)
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