NEW YORK, July 20, 2026, 10:16 EDT – SOXX rebounded as nearly all of VGT’s initial rise was powered by five leading chip stocks.
Initial figures indicated that five semiconductor stocks accounted for 49% of the iShares Semiconductor ETF’s NASDAQ:SOXX early rise on Monday. U.S. markets were trading. SOXX was up 2.1% at around 10:01 a.m. EDT.
The Vanguard Information Technology ETF NYSEARCA:VGT gained 0.8%. Roughly 94% of this increase came from the same group of stocks. Wider diversification lessened the scale of the bounce, though the primary driver of returns stayed the same.
The basket included shares of Micron Technology NASDAQ:MU, Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ:AMD, Nvidia NASDAQ:NVDA, Intel NASDAQ:INTC, and Broadcom NASDAQ:AVGO. Each stock gained. Combined, these companies made up 37.3% of SOXX and 31.0% of VGT.
The calculation used each most recent listed weight with Monday’s change in price. VGT cautions that its holdings may not match present portfolio data, so attribution is only an estimate.
| Measure | SOXX | VGT |
|---|---|---|
| Initial fund increase | 2.11% | 0.77% |
| Weight of top five holdings | 37.3% | 31.0% |
| Initial contribution | 1.04 percentage points | 0.72 percentage points |
| Initial share of increase | 49% | 94% |
| Nvidia weighting | 8.5% | 16.1% |
| Expense fee | 0.34% | 0.09% |
Micron gained 4.1%, contributing 0.32 percentage point to the SOXX advance. Nvidia added 0.24 percentage point to VGT, assisted by its higher weighting.
Apple NASDAQ:AAPL dropped 1.4%, while Microsoft NASDAQ:MSFT slipped 0.8%. Together, the two companies make up 22.6% of VGT’s holdings, dragging the fund down by about 0.27 percentage point.
The PHLX Semiconductor Index recovered on Monday after a steep decline the previous week. On Friday, the index closed a little more than 20% under its late-June peak, but remained up 65% for 2026.
“The daily moves for companies this big are just shocking,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments. According to him, a poor outlook has the potential to alter the earnings landscape. Reuters
Earnings have taken precedence over the rebound. LSEG LON:LSEG projects a 133% increase in chip and equipment profits for the second quarter. The sector might account for 44% of overall S&P 500 profit growth.
Solid earnings haven’t ensured backing. Shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing NYSE:TSM declined last week even after quarterly profit surged 77%.
Barclays LON:BARC strategists, with Ajay Rajadhyaksha at the helm, switched to a neutral stance on risk assets. They told investors to “wait for this new round of AI jitters to fade.” The group pointed to crowded positions and uncertainties regarding AI investment payoffs. MarketWatch
VGT adjusts concentration rather than the main exposure. Its fee is 0.09%, while SOXX’s stands at 0.34%. VGT’s Nvidia exposure is almost double that of SOXX.
Intel and Texas Instruments NASDAQ:TXN are set to release earnings this week, while Nvidia will announce results in late August. Investors will be watching company guidance closely to assess whether earnings growth can underpin sector gains projected for 2026.
Risks: Continued robust guidance and resilient AI spending may help sustain the upturn. However, disappointing forecasts, deleveraging, or falling memory prices could cause it to reverse.
