SOXX is a passive index that includes U.S. companies involved in semiconductor manufacturing. Due to the high barriers to entry in the industry, the index is small, holding just 36 stocks. The technical picture for SOXX rates it as a buy on both volatility and momentum aspects.

The latest upbeat Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s quarterly report spilled a lot of optimism among investors that the worst things for the sector, which plagued it during the Covid pandemics, are over. Intuitively, there must be an interesting idea to obtain a broader exposure to the sector, thereby mitigating individual companies’ deviations from the promising recovery case. However, semiconductors are inherently more volatile than other markets, so investors should keep this in mind while deciding to buy and hold SOXX for a prolonged period of time.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) tracks a modified market cap-weighted index of 30 publicly traded U.S. semiconductor companies, including manufacturers of semiconductor materials used in electronic applications and providers of semiconductor-related services or equipment. This fund’s expense ratio is 0.35% per year and the annual dividend is 0.80%.

Return in 2023: 57.36%

Assets under management: $9.6 billion

Expense ratio: 0.35%

TOP 7 SOXX’s HOLDINGS:

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD 8.65%
• Broadcom Inc. AVGO 8.57%
• NVIDIA Corp. NVDA 7.53%
• Intel Corp. INTC 6.42%
• Qualcomm Inc. QCOM 6.40%
• NXP Semiconductors N.V. NXPI 4.00%
• Micron Technology Inc. MU 3.99%