By Anthony Di Pizio
Publication Date: 2026-03-25 10:42:00
Most artificial intelligence (AI) development happens inside large data centers, where vast numbers of advanced chips and networking components process mountains of information at a lightning-fast pace to train models.
Nvidia (NVDA 0.25%), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD +1.23%), and Micron Technology (MU 2.28%) are three of the most important suppliers of AI data center hardware. There’s more demand for their wares than they can supply now, a condition that has been driving their revenues and their stock prices higher.
Those companies are three of the five largest holdings in the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX +1.32%), which is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests in 30 of the chip industry’s top companies. It has delivered blistering returns over the last 10 years. Here’s how it could turn an investment of $250,000 into $1 million over the next 10 years.
Image source: Getty Images.
Hardware is at the center of the AI boom
The iShares Semiconductor ETF exclusively invests in U.S.-listed companies that design, manufacture, and distribute chips and tech components, and many of those stand to benefit from the ongoing AI revolution.
Graphics processing units (GPUs) are the primary parallel processors used to power AI development. Nvidia’s Blackwell GPUs have led the industry in processing power, but the company’s next-generation Vera Rubin architecture, which will ship to customers in the second half of 2026, will deliver another leap forward in performance. AMD is one…
