Amid the chip bear market, healthcare is breaking out: Chart of the Day
Jared BlikreFri, August 21, 2026 at 1:00 PM GMT+3 3 min read
Moderna (MRNA) stock doubled on Wednesday and stole the show.
But healthcare had already been quietly breaking out for months — just as chips were sliding into a bear market.
Since semiconductors peaked on June 22, the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) has climbed more than 20%, and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) has gained roughly 16%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) has fallen just under 20% over the same stretch.
XLV gave some of it back Thursday, turning in its worst day in five weeks after Wednesday's 3.5% surge — its biggest one-day gain in more than a year.
But neither Wednesday's surge nor Thursday's pullback is where this story starts.
By Tuesday, before the stock's one-day explosion, the healthcare rally was already well underway while SOXX was rolling over again after its latest rebound fizzled. Chip bears regained control this week, with sellers stepping in after SOXX had recovered roughly half of its June-to-July drop.
Healthcare's rally also extends far beyond a single biotech moonshot.
Excluding Moderna, roughly two-thirds of the healthcare stocks in a broad Yahoo Finance screen of more than 100 names are higher this week. Most biotech, pharmaceutical, and life-sciences tools stocks are participating, with Merck (MRK), IQVIA (IQV), Danaher (DHR), and Thermo Fisher (TMO) among the leaders.
Not every corner is joining in. Managed-care stocks remain weak, keeping this from looking like a simple rush into defensive industries.
The change in leadership is enormous in dollar terms.
Since Aug. 14, Nvidia (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO), AMD (AMD), and Intel (INTC) have collectively shed nearly $500 billion in market value.
Over the same stretch, Eli Lilly (LLY), Merck, AbbVie (ABBV), Moderna, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and Thermo Fisher have added more than $200 billion.
Chip leadership had already begun to show cracks earlier this summer. Now biotech is doing something it hasn't managed in years.
IBB has decisively broken above the area around its 2021 high near $178, which has repeatedly stopped rallies for almost five years. The ETF was trading above $210 Thursday afternoon, putting it well beyond that old ceiling.
The price move looks dramatic. The money coming back into the sector looks much less dramatic.
Healthcare ETFs suffered more than $20 billion of combined outflows from 2023 through 2025, according to Todd Sohn, chief ETF strategist at Baird Strategas. Healthcare ETFs have taken in about $4.5 billion so far in 2026.
Even after the recent surge, healthcare's performance versus the S&P 500 over the past three years still ranks among the weakest 10% of periods in Sohn's historical data.
That leaves an unusual setup. Healthcare and biotech are reaching new highs after years of underperformance, while ETF investors are only beginning to come back. For a sector that spent years unloved, an early-stage return of investor interest could give the breakout more room to run.
As Sohn put it, "Healthcare flows are accelerating after dismal demand over the last 3 years."
Jared Blikre is the global markets and data editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @SPYJared or email him at jaredblikre@yahooinc.com.
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