Top Tech Companies to Watch in 2026

Key Takeaways:

• Technology leadership in 2026 is expanding beyond a single AI trade, with innovation accelerating across biotechnology, gaming, space infrastructure, robotics and semiconductors.
• VanEck’s BBH, ESPO, WARP, IBOT and SMH ETFs provide targeted exposure to distinct areas of the innovation economy.
• Gilead Sciences, NetEase, Rocket Lab, ABB and NVIDIA show how technology is reshaping healthcare, digital entertainment, connectivity, industrial automation and AI infrastructure.

The Tech Landscape in 2026: What Has Changed

Technology is no longer just a software story. As AI moves deeper into the economy, the companies enabling it now span semiconductors, robotics, electrification, gaming, space and biotech. Compute capacity depends on chips and advanced manufacturing, automation relies on sensors and industrial control systems, and space infrastructure is becoming a new layer for communications and data.

The 2026 technology landscape is not being shaped by one company or subsector. Innovation is spreading across the industries and systems that support the next phase of growth.

Five Tech Companies to Watch Across VanEck ETFs

1. Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD)

ETF exposure: Top holding in BBH at 14.25% of net assets as of 05/21/2026.

• What They Do: Gilead Sciences is a global biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio spanning HIV, liver disease, oncology and inflammation. From a technology perspective, Gilead represents the life-sciences side of innovation: using molecular biology, clinical data and advanced drug development to create therapies for complex diseases.
• 2026 Watch Point: The biotech opportunity is increasingly tied to precision medicine, data-driven research and more efficient drug development. Gilead brings scale, commercial depth and pipeline breadth to a sector where innovation cycles can be long, highly regulated and clinically uncertain.

2. NetEase Inc. (NTES)

ETF exposure: Top holding in ESPO at 7.94% of net assets as of 05/27/2026.

• What They Do: NetEase develops and publishes online games across PC and mobile platforms and operates durable franchises in the global gaming market. The company sits at the intersection of consumer technology, digital entertainment, live-service content and online communities.
• 2026 Watch Point: Gaming companies are becoming important consumer-facing technology platforms. AI-assisted development, user-generated content, virtual economies and global live-service operations can change how games are built, updated and monetized. NetEase highlights the continued evolution of digital engagement, where content, community and intellectual property remain central to the technology ecosystem.

3. Rocket Lab Corp. (RKLB)

ETF exposure: Top holding in WARP at 9.57% of net assets as of 05/27/2026.

• What They Do: Rocket Lab provides launch services, spacecraft systems and mission solutions for commercial and government customers. Its Electron rocket has made the company a leading small-launch provider, while its spacecraft and components businesses broaden its role beyond launch into the infrastructure layer of the space economy.
• 2026 Watch Point: The space economy is moving from exploration toward infrastructure: launch, satellites, Earth observation, communications and space data. Rocket Lab reflects the growing importance of space infrastructure as connectivity, defense, climate monitoring and data services become more dependent on assets in orbit.

4. ABB Ltd. (ABBN SW)

ETF exposure: Top holding in IBOT at 5.81% of net assets as of 05/27/2026.

• What They Do: ABB is a global electrification and automation company with products and systems spanning robotics, motion, power distribution, industrial controls and digital automation. Its technology helps factories, utilities, buildings and data centers become more automated, efficient and connected.
• 2026 Watch Point: AI needs physical systems to act on the world. ABB is positioned in the layer where software, sensors, robots, power systems and industrial equipment come together. As data centers, manufacturers and utilities invest in automation and electrification, ABB remains tied to the infrastructure that connects digital intelligence with physical operations.

5. NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA)

ETF exposure: Top holding in SMH at 15.42% of net assets as of 05/27/2026.

• What They Do: NVIDIA designs GPUs, networking products, software libraries and full-stack computing platforms used for AI training, inference, simulation and accelerated computing. Its ecosystem has made the company one of the most important suppliers to data centers and AI developers.
• 2026 Watch Point: NVIDIA remains central to the semiconductor and AI infrastructure story. Its GPUs, networking systems and software ecosystem help power many of today's most advanced AI workloads, making the company a natural anchor for the compute layer of the technology market.

Five Different Sides of the 2026 Technology Story

Technology leadership has expanded across the physical, biological and digital economy. Gilead Sciences highlights biotech innovation in virology, oncology and precision medicine, NetEase points to interactive entertainment and digital engagement, Rocket Lab represents space infrastructure, ABB brings robotics and electrification, and NVIDIA remains central to AI computing.

Together, these companies show how the next phase of technology growth is being built across multiple forms of infrastructure, biological, digital, orbital, industrial and semiconductor.

How VanEck ETFs Provide Exposure Across Tech Themes

A multi-fund approach gives investors exposure to different areas of technology innovation. BBH focuses on biotech, ESPO on video gaming and esports, WARP on space infrastructure, IBOT on robotics and automation, and SMH on semiconductors.

Rather than relying on a single mega-cap name or one AI infrastructure category, these ETFs connect investors to five distinct corners of the technology market: health care innovation, digital entertainment, commercial space, industrial automation and semiconductor production.