The SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) and the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) differ mainly in weighting: XSD uses equal weighting across semiconductor firms, while SOXX concentrates on the largest companies like NVIDIA and Broadcom. SOXX has outperformed XSD over the past year and five years, driven by the dominance of megacap chipmakers benefiting from AI infrastructure demand. XSD offers exposure to smaller analog, RF, and specialty logic firms, appealing to investors already holding megacaps. The broader semiconductor market is growing strongly beyond AI, supporting XSD's strategy, but SOXX remains the better default for most investors unless AI spending slows or NVIDIA falters.
