Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should You Invest in the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD)?

Read MoreHide Full Article

The SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD - Free Report) was launched on 01/31/2006, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Technology - Semiconductors segment of the equity market.

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Sector ETFs are also funds of convenience, offering many ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Technology - Semiconductors is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 5, placing it in top 31%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.29 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Technology - Semiconductors segment of the equity market. XSD seeks to match the performance of the S&P Semiconductor Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Semiconductor Select Industry Index represents the Semiconductor sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Markets Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges. The Semiconductor Index is a modified equal weight index.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.28%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Micron Technology Inc (MU - Free Report) accounts for about 3.41% of total assets, followed by Smart Global Holdings Inc (SGH - Free Report) and Impinj Inc (PI - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 29.89% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -9.40% so far this year and is up roughly 5.14% in the last one year (as of 04/22/2024). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $166.78 and $240.14.

The ETF has a beta of 1.45 and standard deviation of 35.70% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 41 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, XSD is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Technology ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

IShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX - Free Report) tracks PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index and the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH - Free Report) tracks MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25 Index. IShares Semiconductor ETF has $11.48 billion in assets, VanEck Semiconductor ETF has $16.63 billion. SOXX has an expense ratio of 0.35% and SMH charges 0.35%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

Published in