Semiconductor Shuffle: Investors Swap SMH for SOXX as Sector ETFs Bleed $3.5B

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Weekly Channel Summary

The Sector & Industry channel, comprising 279 ETFs from 58 issuers, holds approximately $1.07 trillion in total assets. This week, investors pulled a net $3.5 billion from the channel, marking a significant reversal of recent demand. Despite the weekly redemptions, sector funds have still attracted a substantial $55.4 billion year-to-date and $76.0 billion over the past year.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

Performance was widely dispersed across sectors this week, with Health Care leading all categories with a 4.63% gain. This weekly strength adds to an already solid year for the category, which is up 17.90% year-to-date. In contrast, Industrials and Information Technology were the worst-performing groups, falling 4.53% and 3.78% respectively. Despite its weekly stumble, the Information Technology sector remains the top performer in 2026 with a 35.05% return.

Category Performance Snapshot

Category WTD 1 Month 3 Month 6 Month YTD 1 Year
Health Care 4.63% 9.02% 19.84% 16.06% 17.90% 38.40%
Energy 2.72% 8.54% 7.74% 17.49% 44.16% 52.62%
Materials 2.13% 7.64% 7.28% 2.20% 19.60% 22.75%
Consumer Staples -0.23% 2.10% 2.21% -1.14% 11.65% 6.85%
Consumer Discretionary -0.26% 2.59% 0.23% 1.12% -0.23% 5.26%
Real Estate -0.29% -1.25% 2.49% 5.12% 13.65% 13.92%
Communication Services -1.43% 0.80% -4.04% -3.64% -4.52% 3.70%
Financials -1.54% 2.00% 11.18% 10.22% 7.91% 14.17%
Utilities -3.51% -4.81% -4.38% -6.49% 1.40% 2.66%
Information Technology -3.78% 0.43% 2.29% 31.74% 35.05% 55.72%
Industrial -4.53% 1.96% 5.30% -0.17% 14.11% 21.59%

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance

Biotechnology funds delivered standout returns, with the VanEck Biotech ETF (BBH) surging 10.63% to top the performance charts. Its peer, the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB), also posted a strong 7.72% gain. On the other end of the spectrum, technology and semiconductor funds faced a difficult week, led by a 10.00% decline in the Invesco Dorsey Wright Technology Momentum ETF (PTF). The Invesco Semiconductors ETF (PSI) also fell sharply, losing 9.22%.

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
BBH VanEck Biotech ETF 10.63%
IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF 7.72%
IBBQ Invesco Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF 7.33%
SEA U.S. Global Sea to Sky Cargo ETF 7.32%
BOAT SonicShares Global Shipping ETF 7.09%
Bottom Performers
PTF Invesco Dorsey Wright Technology Momentum ETF -10.00%
PSI Invesco Semiconductors ETF -9.22%
PRN Invesco Dorsey Wright Industrials Momentum ETF -8.65%
XSD State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF -8.46%
XAR State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF -8.08%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

Sector ETFs experienced net outflows of $3.5 billion, driven by significant redemptions from the two largest categories. The Financials sector saw the heaviest withdrawals, shedding nearly $2.5 billion, while Information Technology funds bled $833 million. Bucking the negative trend, Energy and Health Care funds attracted modest inflows. Energy led the way with $425 million in new assets, followed by Health Care with $227 million.

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM 5 Day 30 Day 90 Day YTD 1 Year
Energy 33 $69.56B $425M -$445M -$4,333M $7,409M $6,412M
Health Care 33 $114.14B $227M $2,012M $5,723M $5,401M $10,875M
Consumer Staples 14 $26.44B $40M $539M -$510M -$1,000M -$2,102M
Industrial 31 $88.23B $15M $879M $3,254M $13,441M $18,744M
Communication Services 8 $28.88B -$44M -$635M -$1,821M -$3,889M -$2,581M
Materials 11 $13.83B -$103M -$254M $382M $2,777M $2,940M
Utilities 12 $35.46B -$196M -$41M $306M -$690M $1,190M
Consumer Discretionary 13 $32.00B -$215M $190M $629M -$1,776M -$1,124M
Real Estate 54 $95.93B -$333M $291M $3,970M $5,235M $8,988M
Information Technology 34 $466.52B -$833M -$6,008M $13,162M $30,380M $34,966M
Financials 35 $101.98B -$2,487M -$1,368M $2,227M -$1,906M -$2,298M

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow

A notable rotation occurred within semiconductor ETFs, which saw both the largest inflows and outflows of the week. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was the top asset gatherer, pulling in $669 million. In stark contrast, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) experienced the largest redemption of any fund, with investors withdrawing nearly $1.7 billion. The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) also faced heavy pressure, losing almost $1.6 billion.

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
SOXX iShares Semiconductor ETF $669M
XBI State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF $296M
XLE State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF $277M
IXN iShares Global Tech ETF $272M
VGT Vanguard Information Technology ETF $186M
Outflows
SMH VanEck Semiconductor ETF -$1,688M
XLF State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF -$1,581M
KRE State Street SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF -$657M
XLV State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF -$416M
XLY State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF -$222M

Note: the following fund(s) were excluded from the flow totals above because the weekly flow exceeds 75% of the fund’s AUM and may be the result of a custom rebalance: XRT (-$285M).

Issuer League Table Update

SPDR and Vanguard continue to dominate the sector landscape, commanding 40.6% and 25.4% of the channel’s market share, respectively. iShares was the most successful asset gatherer this week, attracting $794 million in net inflows across its product suite. Meanwhile, SPDR saw the largest outflows among all issuers, with net redemptions totaling $3.1 billion. VanEck also experienced significant withdrawals, shedding nearly $1.5 billion for the week.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM AUM Market Share
SPDR 28 $435.73B 40.60%
Vanguard 12 $272.88B 25.42%
iShares 48 $196.79B 18.33%
VanEck 20 $71.76B 6.69%
Invesco 44 $35.59B 3.32%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Brand 5-Day Flow
Inflows
iShares $794M
Vanguard $134M
Invesco $95M
Outflows
SPDR -$3,101M
VanEck -$1,495M
State Street -$15M

For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth Sector & Industry ETF reports in the right side panel of this page.

Disclosures

This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. All investments, including ETFs, involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Investors should consider their investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.

This analysis was developed by the team at ETF Action. We leverage advanced AI tools to assist in the drafting and refinement of our content, based on our expert prompts, direction, and final review.