VanEck's SMH ETF Is Up 64% in 2025 Without Owning Apple
SMH has surged 64% year-to-date and 111% over 12 months — all without a single share of Apple in its portfolio.
If you slept on semiconductors, wake up. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) has already handed investors a 64.47% gain year to date through July 2, and if you zoom out to the trailing 12 months, that number balloons to 111.24%. That's not a typo. That's one of the hottest runs any sector ETF has put together in recent memory.
Here's the kicker: SMH doesn't own a single share of Apple. Not one. That's wild when you consider Apple is arguably the most recognizable tech name on earth. But this isn't a manager making a bold call against Cupertino — the exclusion is purely structural. SMH tracks semiconductor companies, and Apple is a consumer hardware and software business that happens to use chips, not make them. The fund's mandate simply doesn't have room for AAPL.
Read more Apple Locks In Broadcom Until 2031 for Custom AI Server Chips →
That structural clarity is actually a feature, not a bug. When you buy SMH, you're getting a laser-focused bet on the companies designing and manufacturing the silicon that powers everything — AI servers, data centers, smartphones, cars. There's no dilution from mega-cap tech conglomerates blurring the thesis. Pure chip exposure, full stop.
The performance gap between SMH and broader tech ETFs over this stretch should make any trader take a hard look at whether sector-specific funds deserve a bigger slice of the portfolio. Chipmakers have been the backbone of the AI trade, and SMH has captured that upside without the drag of mixed-business tech giants. If the AI infrastructure buildout keeps accelerating, the fund's structural purity could keep working in your favor.
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