- SMH AUM reaches $70B — near its highest level since July, per The Kobeissi Letter
- SOXX AUM hits $46B — near its all-time record high after nearly tripling from $15B in early 2025
- IGV (software ETF) sits at just $13.5B — flat across same period, confirming hardware-over-software rotation
- Combined $116B in semiconductor ETF AUM marks historic capital concentration in AI chip infrastructure
Semiconductor ETFs are registering historic capital inflows — and the data is not subtle.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF ($SMH) has seen assets under management climb to $70 billion, approaching its highest level since July, according to The Kobeissi Letter. Simultaneously, the iShares Semiconductor ETF ($SOXX) has reached $46 billion in AUM — near its highest level on record.
These are not incremental moves. The chart shared by The Kobeissi Letter shows SOXX’s AUM nearly tripled from approximately $15 billion in early 2025 to its current level, with the bulk of the acceleration occurring from January 2026 onward. SMH, meanwhile, grew from roughly $20 billion in January 2024 to a peak near $80 billion mid-2026 before pulling back to its current $69.97 billion.
What makes the pattern structurally significant is what it excludes. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF ($IGV), which tracks software companies, sits at just $13.50 billion — largely flat across the same period. Capital is flowing specifically into hardware and chip infrastructure, not software. The divergence between semiconductor and software AUM is now stark and sustained.
Both SMH and SOXX have pulled back from their respective peaks in recent sessions — visible in the chart’s highlighted red zone — signaling some degree of profit-taking or risk-off positioning at elevated levels. However, the underlying AUM base remains historically large, and SOXX’s rapid catch-up to SMH indicates broadening institutional participation in semiconductor exposure, not concentration in a single vehicle.
The backdrop is well-documented. TSMC’s $265B US chip expansion has kept AI-driven semiconductor demand at the center of institutional allocation decisions, while projections for AI capability timelines have accelerated capital commitments into the physical infrastructure layer — chips, fabs, and the companies that make them.
High AUM concentration in sector ETFs also carries a structural note of caution: if sentiment reverses sharply, $116 billion in combined semiconductor ETF assets creates a significant liquidity overhang. For now, the flows confirm institutional conviction in AI chip infrastructure remains intact at historically elevated scale.
Watch SOXX $46B and SMH $70B as the immediate AUM reference levels — a sustained move above SMH’s $80B peak would confirm the consolidation is resolved to the upside.
Source: x.com
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Source: Kobeissiletter · Published by CoinsProbe Markets Desk
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