Since the start of March, the First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NYSEArca: FDN) is off nearly 13%. Off 17%, the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NasdaqGM: SOCL) is a worse offender.
Old guard technology stocks and ETFs, such as the Technology Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLK), have been steady even as some of the sectors story stocks have wilted. Add semiconductor stocks and funds to the list of the tech offerings that have proven durable as investors have scurried out of high-flying momentum fare. [Old School Tech ETFs Look Pretty Good]
The $365.9 million Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (NYSEArca: SMH), home to an array of old guard chip names, is up about 3% in the past month. SMH is still 3.1% above its 50-day moving average and a healthy 11% above its 200-day line. FDN and SOCL have given up their 50-day lines with the former close to violating its 200-day moving average, which SOCL has already done.
SMH allocates nearly 36% of its combined weight to Intel (NasdaqGS: INTC), Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM) and Texas Instruments (NasdaqGS: TXN), part of the more conservative realm of the chip industry. [The Season for Semis]
The $385.4 million iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NasdaqGM: SOXX) is up 2.6% since the beginning of March. Home to 31 stocks, SOXX, like SMH, is heavily allocated to some of the largest and most familiar semiconductor makers.
The ETF allocates over 24% of its combined weight to Intel, Qualcomm (NasdaqGS: QCOM) and Texas Instruments. Qualcomm is sitting on nearly $30 billion in cash and has more than doubled its dividend over the past four years. Texas Instruments has tripled its payout since 2008. SOXX has a beta of just 0.83 against the S&P 500, according to iShares data.