SMH vs XBI: which is really different?

SMH and XBI hold 0% of their weight in the same names, and SMH returned +75.3% over the year. VanEck Semiconductor ETF and State Street(R) SPDR(R) S&P(R) Biotech ETF.

Both cost 0.35% a year; their one-year returns differ by 30.3 points; SMH is 7.4 times larger.

SMHXBI
Expense ratio0.35%0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026$73.2bn$9.9bn
Total return, 1 year+75.3%+45.0%
What it tracksSemiconductorsBiotech
Holdings in common0%
S&P 500, total return, 1 year+17.3%
Against the S&P 500, 1 yearahead by 58.1 ptsahead by 27.7 pts
Below its all-time high9.8%, high on Jun 22, 202611.1%, high on Feb 8, 2021

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 8, 2026.

79.1%
SMH in the S&P 500
12.7%
XBI in the S&P 500
+75.3%
SMH total return, 1 year
+45.0%
XBI total return, 1 year
SMH · 1 year to Oct 9, 202621% of its weight is outside the S&P 500
21% of its weight is outside the S&P 50079% of SMH's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 21% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.79%21%of its weight in S&P 500 companiesoutside the S&P 500active share 81% · top ten 68% of the fund · 25 holdings as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026 · Nasdaq-100: 77% in21% of its weight is outside the S&P 50079% of SMH's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 21% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.79%21%in the S&P 500outsideactive share 81% · Nasdaq-100: 77% in

79% of SMH's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 21% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.

XBI · 1 year to Oct 9, 202687% of its weight is outside the S&P 500
87% of its weight is outside the S&P 50013% of XBI's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 87% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.13%87%inof its weight outside the S&P 500active share 98% · top ten 17% of the fund · 165 holdings as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026 · Nasdaq-100: 9% in87% of its weight is outside the S&P 50013% of XBI's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 87% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.13%87%inof its weight outside the S&P 500active share 98% · Nasdaq-100: 9% in

13% of XBI's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 87% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.

ETFIQ Off-Index Score · XBI scores higherHow much of it is not the index it is sold as an alternative to?
0.1, the lowest in this set92.3, the highest

A percentile among the 391 thematic ETFs with a holdings filing. All thematic ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, SMH and XBI hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Oct 8, 2026.

half

0% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding SMH XBI
Only in SMH
Nvidia Corp 19.60%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co L 9.30%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc 5.66%
Broadcom Inc 5.34%
Micron Technology Inc 4.79%
Texas Instruments Inc 4.70%
Marvell Technology Inc 4.66%
Applied Materials Inc 4.64%
Only in XBI
MODERNA INC 2.20%
TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP 1.84%
NATERA INC 1.79%
ABBVIE INC 1.65%
UNITED THERAPEUTICS CORP 1.59%
AMGEN INC 1.58%
BIOGEN INC 1.57%
HALOZYME THERAPEUTICS INC 1.55%

0% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

Performance, window by window

Total returnvs the S&P 500vs the Nasdaq-100
WindowSMHXBISMHXBISMHXBI
3 months−1.3%−3.3%−4.6 pts−6.7 pts−4.9 pts−7.0 pts
6 months+38.1%+18.9%+22.9 pts+3.8 pts+14.9 pts−4.3 pts
1 year+75.3%+45.0%+58.1 pts+27.7 pts+51.7 pts+21.4 pts
3 years+308.2%+114.6%+222.4 pts+28.8 pts+200.9 pts+7.3 pts
Since launch
SMH Dec 2011 · XBI Feb 2006
+4,627.9%+890.7%+3,916.6 pts+92.2 pts+3,203.2 pts−1,164.7 pts

Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →

On the same fields

SMH
VanEck Semiconductor ETF · Holds 25 stocks in semiconductors, 79% of its weight in S&P 500 companies
XBI
State Street(R) SPDR(R) S&P(R) Biotech ETF · Holds 165 stocks in biotech, 13% of its weight in S&P 500 companies
Theme Semiconductors Biotech
In the S&P 500 79.1% 12.7%
Active share vs the S&P 500 80.7% 98.4%
In the Nasdaq-100 77.4% 8.5%
Holdings 25 165
Top ten, share of the fund 67.7% 16.9%
Expense ratio 0.35% 0.35%
Fee for the differing part 0.43% 0.36%
Total return, 1 year +75.3% +45.0%
vs the S&P 500 +58.1 pts +27.7 pts
vs the Nasdaq-100 +51.7 pts +21.4 pts
Below its high −9.8% −11.1%
Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026 $73.2bn $9.9bn

As of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

SMH in plain words

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 68% of the fund across 25 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 the fund returned +75.3% with distributions reinvested against +17.3% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 58.1 pts. It sits 9.8% below its all-time high of Jun 22, 2026.

XBI in plain words

By weight, 13% of XBI's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 98%. The top ten holdings are 17% of the fund across 165 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 the fund returned +45.0% with distributions reinvested against +17.3% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 27.7 pts. It sits 11.1% below its all-time high of Feb 8, 2021.

Questions people ask

Do SMH and XBI hold the same stocks?
By their latest filings, 0% of their books are the same securities at the same weight, which is mostly different names. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.
Which is more different from the S&P 500, SMH or XBI?
SMH has 79% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XBI has 13%, so XBI differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, SMH or XBI?
SMH and XBI both charge 0.35% a year, so neither is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation.

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed.

Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

Cite this page

ETFIQ, SMH against XBI, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/smh-vs-xbi

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.