Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GDX vs SMH: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GDX returned +19.0% to SMH's +56.8%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $25.6bn for VanEck Gold Miners ETF and $71.1bn for VanEck Semiconductor ETF.
12% of GDX's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 88% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 22, 2026.
79% of SMH's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 21% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 22, 2026.
Pair scorecard
SMH costs 0.16 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 37.8 points; SMH is 2.8 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | GDX | SMH |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +19.0% | +56.8% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 27.5%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | 15.1%, high on Jun 22, 2026 |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold miners | Semiconductors |
| Its benchmark, total return, 1 year | +13.4% | +13.4% |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | ahead by 5.6 pts | ahead by 43.4 pts |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.51% | 0.35% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $25.6bn | $71.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 30, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 773 weekly returns · each against ACWISMH returned more: +3,977.0% to +78.0%. SMH swung less: 26.9% to 36.9%. SMH fell less at its worst: −44.2% to −76.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GDX | SMH | ACWI | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +78.0% | +3,977.0% | SMH | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +4.0% | +28.3% | SMH | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +55.9% | +3,365.0% | SMH | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 36.9% | 26.9% | SMH | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 25.4% | 17.5% | SMH | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −76.4% | −44.2% | SMH | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 43.6% | 197.3% | 100.0% | SMH | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 68.4% | 117.1% | 100.0% | GDX | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.70 | 1.40 | 1.00 | GDX lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.09 | 0.63 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.24 | 1.00 | SMH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.36 | 1.53 | SMH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.128 | 0.192 | 0.102 | SMH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.05 | 0.64 | SMH | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | ACWI | ACWI | ACWI | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.8% a year | +12.6% a year | 0.0% | SMH significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.20 | 2.95 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −16.2% to +19.9% | +4.2% to +20.9% | GDX's includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.03 | 0.96 | SMH | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 35.6% | 17.4% | 0.0% | 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, GDX and SMH hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Window by window
| Total return | vs its benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | GDX | SMH | GDX | SMH |
| 3 months | +14.1% | +12.6% | +9.7 pts vs ACWI | +8.2 pts vs ACWI |
| 6 months | −2.6% | +13.6% | −10.0 pts vs ACWI | +6.2 pts vs ACWI |
| 1 year | +19.0% | +56.8% | +5.6 pts vs ACWI | +43.4 pts vs ACWI |
| 3 years | +197.7% | +316.0% | +108.8 pts vs ACWI | +227.1 pts vs ACWI |
| Since launchNot the same days: GDX May 2006 · SMH Dec 2011 | +173.0% | +4,348.4% | not measured | +3,938.6 pts vs ACWI |
Side by side
As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
0% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.
GDX and SMH are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Theme. GDX covers Gold miners and SMH covers Semiconductors.
- What each follows. GDX follows Gold miners and SMH follows Semiconductors.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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GDX
By weight, 12% of GDX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 60% of the fund across 59 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +19.0% with distributions reinvested against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Index, so a holder was ahead by 5.6 pts. It sits 27.5% below its all-time high of Feb 27, 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
- Do GDX and SMH hold the same stocks?
- By their latest filings, 0% of their books are the same securities at the same weight. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.
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.
Every number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.
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ETFIQ, GDX against SMH, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/gdx-vs-smh
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