iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) Rallies 40% in 2025 Amid AI Boom

Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst

AMD+1.72%

AVGO+2.53%

MU+7.76%

Source: Yahoo Finance

Updated: 11h ago

0mins

Source: Yahoo Finance

AI Surge Impact: The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) surged 40% in 2025, primarily driven by strong performances from top chip stocks like Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom, highlighting the ongoing demand for semiconductors fueled by AI technology.
Strong Market Performance: SOXX jumped 1,160% over the past year, reflecting a golden age for semiconductors, with expectations for continued robust growth in 2026, further solidifying its market leadership.
Soaring Demand: Micron's high-bandwidth memory chip demand skyrocketed, tripling its stock price last year, demonstrating the intense need for specific semiconductor products driven by AI applications, which boosts investor confidence.
ETF Rebalancing Advantage: The SOXX rebalances annually, adjusting holdings based on relevance and other criteria, providing a strategic advantage over individual stocks, and is expected to continue outperforming the market in 2026.

AMD

$231.83+Infinity%1D

Analyst Views on AMD

Wall Street analysts forecast AMD stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for AMD is 281.78 USD with a low forecast of 200.00 USD and a high forecast of 350.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

37 Analyst Rating

27 Buy

10 Hold

0 Sell

Moderate Buy

Current: 227.920

Low

200.00

Averages

281.78

High

350.00

Current: 227.920

Low

200.00

Averages

281.78

High

350.00

Truist

William Stein

Buy

downgrade

$279 -> $277

Al Analysis

2025-12-19

Reason

Truist

William Stein

Price Target

$279 -> $277

Al Analysis

2025-12-19

downgrade

Buy

Reason

Truist analyst William Stein lowered the firm's price target on AMD to $277 from $279 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm adjusted price targets in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence group after establishing 2027 estimates. Truist recognizes the challenges of finding the power to run AI infrastructure and getting the funding to pay for it. However, the firm believes AI infrastructure semiconductor stocks "remain cheap" relative to their growth. It sees "more upside pressure" to estimates for the group relative to the diversified analog semis heading into 2026. AI capital expenditure upside will continue in 2026, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Cantor Fitzgerald

Overweight

downgrade

$350 -> $300

2025-12-16

Reason

Cantor Fitzgerald

Price Target

$350 -> $300

2025-12-16

downgrade

Overweight

Reason

Cantor Fitzgerald lowered the firm's price target on AMD to $300 from $350 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The SOX is positioned to lead markets higher after outperforming the S&P by roughly 30 points in CY25, supported by the early stages of the AI era driving demand across compute, networking, memory, and equipment, the analyst tells investors in a research note. While cyclical factors may create mixed signals, the macro backdrop and expected exponential growth in AI infrastructure spending support a long position in the SOX and overweight exposure to AI-related plays into CY26, the firm says.

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BofA

Buy

downgrade

$300 -> $260

2025-12-16

Reason

BofA

Price Target

$300 -> $260

2025-12-16

downgrade

Buy

Reason

BofA lowered the firm's price target on AMD to $260 from $300 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm is updating its price targets for U.S. Semiconductor stocks under its coverage, the analyst tells investors. BofA views 2026 as a midpoint for an 8 to 10 year journey upgrading traditional IT infrastructure for faster, AI workloads. While stocks may remain choppy amid greater scrutiny of AI returns and hyperscaler cash flows, this should be offset by faster large language model builders and AI factories, the firm adds.

Raymond James

Outperform

initiated

$377

2025-11-20

Reason

Raymond James

Price Target

$377

2025-11-20

initiated

Outperform

Reason

Raymond James assumed coverage of AMD (AMD) with an Outperform rating and $377 price target. The firm believes AMD is best positioned to compete with Nvidia (NVDA) in the merchant graphics processing unit market. The firm sees continued momentum for the company in accelerators and artificial intelligence rack systems "despite investor skepticism."

About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. is a global semiconductor company. The Company is focused on high-performance computing, graphics and visualization technologies. Its segments include Data Center, Client and Gaming, and Embedded. Data Center segment includes artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators, microprocessors (CPUs) for servers, graphics processing units (GPUs), accelerated processing units (APUs), data processing units (DPUs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), smart network interface Cards (SmartNICs) and Adaptive system-on-Chip (SoC) products for data centers. Client and Gaming segment includes CPUs, APUs, chipsets for desktops and notebooks, discrete GPUs, and semi-custom SoC products and development services. Embedded segment includes embedded CPUs, GPUs, APUs, FPGAs, system on modules (SOMs), and Adaptive SoC products. It markets and sells its products under the AMD trademark. Its products include AMD EPYC, AMD Ryzen, AMD Ryzen PRO, Virtex UltraScale+, and others.

About the author

Emily J. Thompson

Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.