Investment objective & strategy
As of July 29, 2025 · prospectusObjective. The First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF (the Fund ) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the Funds fees and expenses) of an equity index called the Nasdaq US Smart Semiconductor TM Index (the Index ).
Strategy. The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in the securities that comprise the Index. The Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Index. The Index is owned and is developed, maintained and sponsored by Nasdaq, Inc. (the Index Provider ). The Index Provider may, from time to time, exercise reasonable discretion as it deems appropriate in order to ensure Index integrity. According to the Index Provider, the Index is designed to provide exposure to the 30 to 50 top factor-ranked securities from U.S. semiconductor companies. The Indexs initial selection universe consists of the component securities of the Nasdaq US Benchmark TM Index … The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in the securities that comprise the Index. The Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Index. The Index is owned and is developed, maintained and sponsored by Nasdaq, Inc. (the Index Provider ). The Index Provider may, from time to time, exercise reasonable discretion as it deems appropriate in order to ensure Index integrity. According to the Index Provider, the Index is designed to provide exposure to the 30 to 50 top factor-ranked securities from U.S. semiconductor companies. The Indexs initial selection universe consists of the component securities of the Nasdaq US Benchmark TM Index that have been classified as comprising either the semiconductors or production technology equipment subsectors according to the Industry Classification Benchmark (the "ICB" ). According to the ICB, companies comprising these subsectors include (i) producers and distributors of semiconductors and other integrated chips, including other products related to the semiconductor industry, such as motherboards, excluding makers of printed circuit boards; and (ii) manufactures of tools and/or devices that are used in the creation of semiconductors, lasers, photonics, wafers, and other high-technology components , including semiconductor capital equipment. The Nasdaq US Benchmark TM Index is a float adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to track the performance of securities assigned to the U.S. The Fund may invest in depositary receipts and companies with various market capitalizations. According to the Index Provider, in order to be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a security must meet certain size, float and liquidity standards of the Index . Securities from the same issuer will be subject to conditions controlled by the Index Provider to determine Index eligibility. The Index Provider then ranks the remaining eligible stocks based on the aggregate of the following four factors : (1) gross income; (2) return on assets; (3) momentum; and (4) cash flow. The cash flow factor is given limited weight and may serve as a tiebreaker. The Index Provider selects the securities that either have factor scores of 30 or lower, or rank among the top 75% with factor scores not exceeding 50. This ensures the Index consists of 30 to 50 Index securities. The Index assigns security weights based upon cash flow. However, the Index will not assign a security weight of greater than 8% and no more than five securities may be assigned the maximum 8% weight. All other securities are capped at 4% and no security may have a weight less than 0.50%. The Index is rebalanced and reconstituted semi-annually and the Fund will make corresponding changes to its portfolio shortly after the Index changes are made public. The Fund will be concentrated in an industry or a group of industries to the extent that the Index is so concentrated. As of June 30, 2025, the Index was composed of 30 securities with market capitalization ranges from $ 2.5 billion to $3.85 trillion. As of June 30, 2025, the Fund had significant investments in information technology companies, although this may change from time to time. The Fund's investments will change as the Index changes and, as a result, the Fund may have significant investments in jurisdictions or investment sectors that it may not have had as of June 30, 2025. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in a given jurisdiction or investment sector, the Fund may be exposed to the risks associated with that jurisdiction or investment sector.
Top holdings
As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA CORP | — | $122.36M | 8.24% |
| BROADCOM INC | — | $120.41M | 8.11% |
| INTEL CORP | — | $120.28M | 8.10% |
| QUALCOMM INC | — | $112.45M | 7.57% |
| MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC | — | $101.84M | 6.86% |
| MARVELL TECHNOLOGY INC | — | $75.37M | 5.08% |
| ADV MICRO DEVICE | — | $63.16M | 4.25% |
| KLA CORP | — | $60.03M | 4.04% |
| ON SEMICONDUCTOR CORP | — | $57.89M | 3.90% |
| APPLIED MATERIALS INC | — | $57.06M | 3.84% |
Portfolio moves
Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.
Similar funds
Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight| Fund | Overlap | Net exp. |
|---|---|---|
| iShares Semiconductor ETF · SOXX | 76% | 0.34% |
| Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF · SOXQ | 66% | 0.19% |
| Electronics Fund | 66% | 1.73% |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| First Trust Advisors L.P. | Adviser |
Footnotes
- Expense ratio as of July 29, 2025, from the fund's prospectus.
- Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
- Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. Computed by compounding the twelve monthly total returns the fund reported in its SEC N-PORT filings for 2025 (the latest prospectus does not yet chart this year).
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