Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SOXX vs XLK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SOXX returned +72.0% to XLK's +27.1%, and XLK charges 0.08% to SOXX's 0.33%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $48.3bn for iShares Semiconductor ETF and $125.0bn for State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF.
Pair scorecard
XLK costs 0.25 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 44.9 points; XLK is 2.6 times larger.
| Measure | SOXX | XLK |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +72.0% | +27.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 20.3%, 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 58.7 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.33% | 0.08% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $48.3bn | $125.0bn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 82% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 36% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 62% | 64.6% |
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; XLK against SPY, Dec 31, 1998 to Oct 23, 2026.
SOXX returned more: +2,383.8% to +1,784.6%. XLK swung less: 21.8% to 31.0%. XLK fell less at its worst: −55.8% to −68.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SOXX | XLK | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +2,383.8% | +1,784.6% | SOXX | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.5% | +12.3% | SOXX (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +1,924.8% | +1,293.4% | SOXX | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 31.0% | 21.8% | XLK | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 21.2% | 15.0% | XLK | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −68.4% | −55.8% | XLK | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 212.4% | 138.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 123.4% | 113.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.38 | 1.15 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.59 | 0.73 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.51 | 0.56 | XLK (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.74 | 0.81 | XLK (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.200 | 0.094 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.20 | 0.22 | XLK | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | PBUS | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +10.2% a year | +1.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 1.48 | 0.67 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −3.3% to +23.7% | −3.0% to +6.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.69 | 0.22 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 21.7% | 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, 1,318 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SOXX and XLK hold 36% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
36% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SOXX and XLK on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SOXX and XLK do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SOXX follows Semiconductors and XLK follows Technology Select Sector Index.
- Holdings in common. 36% 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 XLK +27.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 44.9 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.
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 SOXX and XLK in the same category?
- SOXX 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, SOXX or XLK?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SOXX returned +72.0% and XLK +27.1%.
- Which is cheaper, SOXX or XLK?
- XLK is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 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 XLK, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/soxx-vs-xlk
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[SOXX against XLK (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/soxx-vs-xlk)
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