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Should You Invest in the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX)?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Technology - Semiconductors segment of the equity market, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 07/10/2001.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Technology - Semiconductors is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 10, placing it in bottom 38%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $6.58 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Technology - Semiconductors segment of the equity market. SOXX seeks to match the performance of the PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index before fees and expenses.

The ICE Semiconductor Index measures the performance of U.S. traded securities of companies engaged in the semiconductor business.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.43%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.98%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Broadcom Inc (AVGO - Free Report) accounts for about 9.48% of total assets, followed by Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD - Free Report) and Qualcomm Inc (QCOM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 60.09% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, SOXX has lost about -34.51%, and is down about -18.31% in the last one year (as of 07/15/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $337.24 and $555.63.

The ETF has a beta of 1.25 and standard deviation of 37.94% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 35 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

IShares Semiconductor ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, SOXX is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Technology ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD - Free Report) tracks S&P Semiconductor Select Industry Index and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH - Free Report) tracks MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25 Index. SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF has $958.82 million in assets, VanEck Semiconductor ETF has $6.28 billion. XSD has an expense ratio of 0.35% and SMH charges 0.35%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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