SOX vs Nasdaq 100
The SOX follows about thirty semiconductor companies; the Nasdaq 100 holds a hundred, several of them the same ones, and among its heaviest. The two curves travel together — until the chip cycle turns, when the SOX pulls violently away, upwards as readily as downwards.
Over the period both series share, PHLX Semiconductor comes out ahead at +14.9% a year.
| Asset | Total return | Annualised | Volatility | Largest drawdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHLX Semiconductor | ×90.6 | +14.9% a year | 35.6% | −84.4% (December 2008) |
| Nasdaq 100 | ×76.4 | +14.3% a year | 24.6% | −79.8% (October 2002) |
Figures calculated on 26/10/2026 from monthly closing prices. Past performance is no guide to future performance.
An overlap, not a subset
The largest SOX members are also in the Nasdaq 100, where they carry real weight. That is why the two indices track each other so closely most of the time: much of what lifts the first lifts the second.
The containment is not complete, though. The SOX takes companies from the sector wherever they are listed, including away from the Nasdaq, and spans the whole chain — design, fabrication, equipment, distribution. The Nasdaq 100 takes Nasdaq-listed companies whatever their business, financials excepted. Two criteria at right angles to each other, crossing without either enclosing the other.
An industry that amplifies everything
Semiconductors are cyclical in the strict sense: fabrication plants take years and billions to build, demand moves faster than capacity, and inventories widen the swing. The result is stretches of shortage when margins soar, followed by stretches of overcapacity when they collapse.
The SOX curve carries that cycle. Its falls are deeper than the Nasdaq 100’s — the dot-com crash, then 2008, then the turn of 2022 give three measures of it — and its recoveries faster. Comparing the two indices is above all comparing two amplitudes, and the worst drawdown shown under the chart says more here than the performance does.
Frequently asked questions
Is the SOX part of the Nasdaq 100?
No. The two indices share several of their largest holdings, but neither contains the other: their selection criteria are independent.
Where does that amplitude come from?
From the industry’s cycle. A semiconductor plant is committed years before it produces, so supply rarely arrives when demand calls for it — hence the marked alternation of shortage and overcapacity.
How many companies are in the SOX?
About thirty today. Its rulebook has changed since it was created in 1993, and the number of members with it.