Investors know Amazon ( NASDAQ:AMZN | AMZN Price Prediction) for its dominance in e-commerce and cloud computing through AWS, and are likely familiar that it has pushed into chipmaking with its Trainium line that is designed for AI training and inference. Yet, their thoughts on its silicon efforts often don't go much beyond that and, in doing so, overlook the deeper significance it holds.
SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (NYSEARCA:XSD) offers equal-weight exposure to the semiconductor sector, a structure that amplifies both opportunity and risk. The fund has gained 43.15% over the past year as AI infrastructure spending supercharged demand for chips across the supply chain. The equal-weight structure - which gives smaller names the same influence as giants - has both amplified those gains and introduced drag from legacy players like Intel that have not kept pace with the AI cycle.
Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is the world's second-largest investment bank by revenue and ranks 55th on the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations by total revenue. The Wall Street white-glove giant offers financing, advisory services, risk distribution, and hedging for the firm's institutional and corporate clients. In addition, it provides advice, investing, and execution for institutions and individuals across public and private markets.
Most emerging market ETFs are built around the same assumption: that China's economy and equity markets will drive returns for decades. Columbia EM Core ex-China ETF (NYSEARCA:XCEM) rejects that premise entirely. This fund excludes Chinese equities altogether, offering investors exposure to emerging markets without the geopolitical risk, currency volatility, and regulatory uncertainty that have defined Chinese markets in recent years.
Applied Materials Inc. will pay $252.5 million to settle a US Commerce Department investigation into improper exports to China, ending a yearslong saga for the largest American supplier of chipmaking machinery. The agreement resolves allegations by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security that certain shipments to China between November 2020 and July 2022 didn't comply with export regulations, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
As investors turned their back on software (notably, the seat-based software-as-a-service companies), they're turned towards hardware in a big-time way. You wouldn't know it by looking at those flat shares of Nvidia ( NASDAQ:NVDA), but the iShares Semiconductor ETF ( NASDAQ:SOXX) is up around 13% year to date, with few signs of slowing down. The winners within semis have been broad, but the undisputed kings of the 2026 semiconductor surge belongs to the memory and storage stocks.
United States President Donald Trump has announced the launch of a strategic minerals stockpile. The stockpile, called Project Vault, was announced on Monday. It will combine $2bn of private capital with a $10bn loan from the US Export-Import Bank. list of 4 itemsend of list It is the latest move by the White House to invest in rare-earth minerals needed in the production of key goods, including semiconductor chips, smartphones and electric car batteries.
The Direxion NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Shares ( NASDAQ:QQQE) doesn't generate income the way traditional dividend ETFs do. With just $1.2 billion in assets and a 0.35% expense ratio, this fund tracks the NASDAQ-100 using equal weighting rather than market cap weighting. That structural difference means each of the 100 holdings gets roughly 1% of the portfolio instead of letting mega-caps dominate. The result is a growth-focused ETF where dividends are secondary.
"In the last months, many of our customers have shared a notably more positive assessment of the medium-term market situation, primarily based on more robust expectations of the sustainability of AI-related demand. This is reflected in a marked step-up in their medium-term capacity plans and in our record order intake," ASML President and Chief Executive Officer Christophe Fouquet said in a statement.
The markets are retreating today after a two-day rally in which technology stocks were out front. Today, tech is a drag, with stalwart chipmaker Intel ( Nasdaq: INTC) down by a double digit percentage as worries around chip demand resurface. All three of the major stock market averages are seeing red, including a fractional decline in the Nasdaq Composite. Nvidia ( Nasdaq: NVDA) is a rare gainer today, tacking on 1.6% and preventing the markets from further declines.
Live Coverage Updates appear automatically as they are published. Live Updates Most of the major indices are green again. The S&P 500 0.17%, as it nears record highs. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF ( SPY) is up about 0.14%. The Dow is down a fraction of a point, with the Nasdaq also up half a percent. The S&P 500 could easily hit 7,000 today, which is just a few points off.
The US and Taiwan have signed an agreement that will see a multi-billion dollar investment into domestic development of semiconductors and related infrastructure. The US Department of Commerce announced that Taiwanese businesses will make an upfront investment of at least $250 billion into their US production capacity, while Taiwan's government will provide credit guarantees of at least another $250 billion in support of the semiconductor industry and supply chain in the US.
Despite the past year's stock market volatility, the explosive demand for semiconductors and microchips that has grabbed news headlines and led the market higher over the past few years remains. As the drive toward integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into our everyday lives progresses, a handful of mega-cap companies are capable of meeting that demand. While Nvidia Corp. ( NASDAQ: NVDA) may get the lion's share of attention, companies like Broadcom Inc. ( NASDAQ: AVGO) will also be playing a central role in supply.
NVIDIA ( NASDAQ:NVDA) has delivered a 23,000% return over the past decade has become the benchmark every tech investor measures against. The company created the infrastructure that made modern AI possible. Now the question: which company pulls off the next NVIDIA-like run? We analyzed 15 AI-adjacent stocks across semiconductors, software, and quantum computing to find the five with the clearest path to impressive future returns thanks to massive growth in the decade ahead. Here's what separated the contenders from the pretenders.
The biggest macro factor for DRIV isn't consumer demand or battery costs. It's trade policy: tariffs and industrial incentives that determine where EVs get built and sold. DRIV holds $340 million in assets split between US tech giants and global automakers. When tariff threats emerge or federal EV tax credits shift, the fund's diverse holdings react differently. Watch for announcements from the Office of the US Trade Representative on Chinese EV and battery component tariffs. These typically surface quarterly or around major trade negotiations.
The Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF ( NYSEARCA:CHAT) soared just over 45% in 2025, outpacing the S&P 500's 17% gain and the Nasdaq-100's 21% advance. The fund's 2026 performance trajectory depends on hyperscaler spending on AI infrastructure and the fund's concentrated exposure to companies building that infrastructure. Hyperscaler Capital Spending Is the Engine The biggest macro factor affecting CHAT's performance is capital expenditure by the world's largest cloud providers.
Among the winners, there are a number of stocks I think can continue to outperform in the year ahead. In this piece, I thought I'd dive into two companies that have blown away the market's return this year, and been key drivers of this performance. These are companies I think can continue to outperform in 2026, and may still be buying opportunities after their impressive 2025.
It may have been a wilder ride for the semiconductor stocks and the broader AI trade in 2025. But for the many brave investors who stayed the course, it's been a rewarding year, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF ( NASDAQ:SMH), my favorite "thermometer" to gauge the heat of the semiconductor stocks, gaining close to 50% on the year. Undoubtedly, with Dr. Michael Burry of The Big Short fame, likely sticking with his bearish bets (and views) of AI for the new year,
