Chips leading beyond Nvidia

Chip stocks are climbing on more than Nvidia now: the VanEck Semiconductor Exchange Traded Fund closed at $452 on April 14, near a fresh high, with gains spreading across foundry, equipment and testing names. (seekingalpha.com) The fund’s biggest holding is still Nvidia at 18.43%, but Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing was 11.19% of assets as of April 11, followed by Broadcom at 8.26%, Intel at 5.54%, Lam Research at 4.98%, KLA at 4.92%, Advanced Micro Devices at 4.91%, ASML at 4.90% and Applied Materials at 4.59%. (stockanalysis.com) SMH tracks a semiconductor index that includes both chip designers and the companies that build the tools used to make chips, including lithography, deposition and inspection systems. VanEck says the fund is designed to follow companies involved in semiconductor production and equipment. (vaneck.com) That mix matters in April 2026 because the rally is no longer resting on one graphics processor maker. The fund’s top 10 holdings made up 72.34% of assets on April 11, and several of the larger non-Nvidia positions sit in the parts of the supply chain that sell manufacturing tools or foundry capacity. (stockanalysis.com) The next test came from ASML on April 15. The Dutch lithography company reported first-quarter 2026 net sales of €8.8 billion, gross margin of 53.0% and basic earnings per share of €7.15, then said it now expects 2026 net sales of €36 billion to €40 billion. (asml.com) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is scheduled to report first-quarter 2026 results on Thursday, April 16, at 2:00 a.m. Eastern time. Its investor relations site lists a 90-minute earnings conference beginning at 2:00 p.m. Taiwan time. (investor.tsmc.com) Those two companies sit at the center of the chip-building chain. ASML sells the extreme ultraviolet lithography machines used to print the smallest features on advanced chips, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing turns customer designs from Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Apple into finished wafers. (asml.com) (investor.tsmc.com) Industry demand has also stayed strong in the latest published data. The Semiconductor Industry Association said worldwide chip sales reached $88.8 billion in February 2026, up 7.6% from January and 61.8% from a year earlier. (semiconductors.org) That backdrop has lifted the companies that supply the factories as well as the companies that design the chips. By April 2026, SMH had about $50.65 billion in assets under management and a 0.35% expense ratio, showing how much investor money has moved into the group as the rally broadened. (seekingalpha.com) (vaneck.com) The next 24 hours will show whether that wider leadership holds. If ASML’s raised outlook and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s April 16 report keep supporting factory spending, the case for a sector-wide chip advance gets another real-time check. (asml.com) (investor.tsmc.com)