If You Invest $5,000 in SOXX Today and Never Touch It, History Says It Could Be Worth This Much in 20 Years

Investing in semiconductor stocks a few years ago looks like a genius move today. The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has turned the sector into one of the market's best performers.

It's dangerous to look at historical returns and use them as expectations going forward, especially for a sector that's performed as well as semiconductors. But it can at least provide a starting point.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SOXX) is one of the largest in this category. It manages more than $46 billion and has returned an average of 14.7% per year since its 2001 inception.

Using those numbers, a $5,000 investment in the iShares Semiconductor ETF at its inception, held until now, would have turned into just over $130,000.

If the fund is able to produce that same 14.7% annualized return over the next 20 years, that would turn a $5,000 investment into approximately $78,000.

Now there's a caveat to make with this example. A nearly 15% annual return over the course of a quarter-century is well above the long-term average for U.S. stocks. Those returns have been fueled largely by low interest rates, trillions of dollars of government debt spending, and, of course, the AI revolution. Those conditions are unlikely to continue, and investors might want to temper their expectations for what could happen over the next couple of decades.

But there's no question about the potential growth of the semiconductor sector as part of the next great technological advances. As these returns demonstrate, a buy-and-hold approach is usually the best path to long-term wealth creation.

David Dierking has positions in iShares Trust-iShares Semiconductor ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends iShares Trust-iShares Semiconductor ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.