## [# Best Performing ETFs of 2026](/sections/features/best-performing-etfs-2026-0)
# Best Performing ETFs of 2026
The S&P 500 had a solid first half, but the real action was elsewhere.
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[By Sumit Roy ](/authors/sumit-roy)
Jul 01, 2026
Edited by: ETF.com Staff
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With one half of 2026 in the books, the year is shaping up to be another good one for stocks.
Through the first six months, the [**Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)**](/voo) gained 10.2%, while the [**Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ)**](/qqq) doubled that with a 20.2% return.
As usual, though, plenty of ETFs did far better than that, and that's what we'll look at here.
A pair of funds ran up more than 900% on the year, and it took a gain north of 535% just to crack the overall top 10. The top of the board is dominated by leveraged products, with only a single nonleveraged fund making the cut.
But even if you strip the leveraged funds out, the bar is still high. A fund needed a roughly a 100% gain to land in the nonleveraged top 10.
Below we'll take a look at both sides, the nonleveraged winners and the leveraged ones.
## A Tanker Fund Leads the Way
On the nonleveraged side, the [**Breakwave Tanker Shipping ETF (BWET)**](/bwet) sits on top with a 684% gain. I've written about this fund a few times this year. BWET holds crude oil tanker freight futures, contracts tied to the rate for hauling oil by sea, with most of the portfolio tracking very large crude carriers traveling from the Persian Gulf to Asia.
When the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed earlier this year and tankers were pushed onto longer routes, freight rates went vertical and BWET went with them.
Oil prices themselves have since come back down as the strait reopened, but tanker futures have held up far better, because the crossing is still fragile, the backlog of stranded ships is only slowly clearing, and war risk premiums remain elevated.
It’s worth remembering that BWET is a trading vehicle rather than a buy-and-hold investment, as freight rates have historically been mean reverting.
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## Then It's Semiconductors, All the Way Down
Outside of BWET, every other fund in the nonleveraged top 10 traces back to the AI infrastructure and semiconductor boom. That includes the [**Invesco Semiconductors ETF (PSI)**](/psi), up 138%, and the [**VistaShares Artificial Intelligence Supercycle ETF (AIS)**](/ais), up 124%.
I've written about AIS before. What makes it stand out is that it's an AI fund beating most of the straight semiconductor ETFs while holding a broader basket than chips alone (though it still leans heavily on semiconductor names).
The well-known [**iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX)**](/soxx) also made the list at 113%, as did the [**iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY)**](/ewy) at 106%. EWY's gain came courtesy of its outsized weightings in SK Hynix and Samsung, two of the biggest winners from the super spike in memory prices.
Investors leaned on EWY as a memory proxy for a good stretch this year, until the [**Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM)**](/dram) launched and stole its thunder. Incidentally, DRAM returned 166% from its April 2 launch through June 30, but it's not included on our list since it wasn't trading at the start of the year.
## Outside the Top 10
The pattern continues past the top 10: Semiconductor ETFs keep turning up well down the list, alongside broader AI funds that are themselves stuffed with chip names, plus the occasional Korea or Taiwan fund that's essentially a de facto semiconductor play.
You have to go all the way to number 17 to hit something a little different: the [**ProShares Nanotechnology ETF (TINY)**](/tiny).
TINY tracks the Solactive Nanotechnology Index, but—surprise—its top holdings include a number of semiconductor equipment stocks, names like Applied Materials, Lam Research, and ASML.
A few other names further down are worth calling out. The [**Nomura Focused Emerging Markets Equity ETF (EMEQ)**](/emeq) gained 77%, roughly three times the return of the broader[ **iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG)**](/iemg).
But once again, the performance is being powered by semiconductors. EMEQ holds about a third of its portfolio in TSMC, SK Hynix, and Samsung.
Other ETFs worth mentioning: the [**KraneShares SSE STAR Market 50 Index ETF (KSTR)**](/kstr), up 72%; the [**iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF (EWT)**](/ewt), up 71%; the [**State Street Galaxy Hedged Digital Asset Ecosystem ETF (HECO)**](/heco), up 71%; the [**Global X Hydrogen ETF (HYDR)**](/hydr), up 67%; and the [**United States Gasoline Fund (UGA)**](/uga), up 66%.
## The Full List
Just as the nonleveraged list of best performing ETFs is dominated by AI stocks, so too is the all-encompassing list.
The overall top 10 is almost entirely 2x long bets on single AI stocks. The [**Direxion Daily MU Bull 2X Shares (MUU)**](/muu) leads at 959%, followed by the [**Direxion Daily INTC Bull 2X Shares (LINT)**](/lint) at 842% and the [**GraniteShares 2x Long DELL Daily ETF (DLLL)**](/dlll) at 772%, and on down the line.
Impressively, BWET managed to break into this list too with its 684%, the lone nonleveraged fund keeping pace with a field of geared single-stock products.
The only other fund in the top 10 that isn't a single-stock bet is the [**Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL)**](/soxl), up 537%. It tracks an index rather than one stock, but its triple leverage, grandfathered in from an earlier regulatory era, let it hang with the 2x single-stock crowd.
For the full list of the top-performing ETFs of the first half of 2026, see the tables below.
## **Best Performing ETFs of 2026 (excluding leverage/single stock ETFs)**
**Name****Ticker****YTD Return** Breakwave Tanker Shipping ETFBWET 683.84%Invesco Semiconductors ETFPSI 138.09%VistaShares Artificial Intelligence Supercycle ETFAIS 124.37%First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETFFTXL 120.38%Xtrackers Semiconductor Select Equity ETFCHPS 118.74%iShares Semiconductor ETFSOXX 113.00%iShares MSCI South Korea ETFEWY 105.80%YieldMax Target 12 Semiconductor Option Income ETFSOXY 101.84%Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETFSOXQ 101.45%Franklin FTSE South Korea ETFFLKR 101.26%YieldMax Semiconductor Portfolio Option Income ETFCHPY 95.36%Global X AI Semiconductor & Quantum ETFCHPX 94.58%State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETFXSD 94.11%Tortoise AI Infrastructure ETFTCAI 88.98%Matthews Korea Active ETFMKOR 87.31%VanEck Semiconductor ETFSMH 82.30%ProShares Nanotechnology ETFTINY 80.27%Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust Invesco Dorsey Wright Technology Momentum ETFPTF 78.53%State Street Galaxy Transformative Tech Accelerators ETFTEKX 78.51%Strive US Semiconductor ETFSHOC 78.25%## **Best Performing ETFs of 2026 (all U.S.-listed ETFs)**
**Name****Ticker****YTD Return (NAV)**Direxion Daily MU Bull 2X ETFMUU959.13%GraniteShares 2x Long MU Daily ETFMULL 927.48%Direxion Daily Intc Bull 2X ETFLINT 842.84%GraniteShares 2x Long INTC Daily ETFINTW 840.82%GraniteShares 2x Long DELL Daily ETFDLLL 771.63%GraniteShares 2x Long MRVL Daily ETFMVLL 701.19%Breakwave Tanker Shipping ETFBWET 683.84%Leverage Shares 2X Long ARM Daily ETFARMG 593.29%Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETFSOXL 536.58%Tradr 2X Long BE Daily ETFBEX 535.25%GraniteShares 2x Long NBIS Daily ETFNBIL 531.70%Tradr 2X Long NBIS Daily ETFNEBX 524.46%Leverage Shares 2X Long BE Daily ETFBEG 518.96%Leverage Shares 2X Long NBIS Daily ETFNBIG 516.86%Direxion Daily AMD Bull 2X ETFAMUU 435.95%Graniteshares 2x Long AMD Daily ETFAMDL 432.43%Leverage Shares 2X Long AMD Daily ETFAMDG 429.37%Tradr 2X Long LRCX Daily ETFLRCU 396.41%Tradr 2X Long ALAB Daily ETFLABX 382.11%Leverage Shares 2X Long KLAC Daily ETFKLAG 368.94%
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[ Sumit Roy Senior ETF Analyst ](/authors/sumit-roy)
Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com and author of (Don't) Invest Like a Pro. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including… [View Bio](/authors/sumit-roy)
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