US stock market performance has been strong so far in 2026. After falling nearly 7% through the end of March, the S&P 500 Index rebounded sharply. Overall, the index's total annual return remains close to 10%. From 2015 to 2025, the average annual return of the index was estimated at 14.5%. Therefore, the S&P 500 will need a strong half year to meet or eclipse this figure.
Despite providing investors with strong returns, the US was far from the best place to invest during 2026. Two Asian stock markets have outperformed all others this year, delivering gains of 50% or more.
Unsurprisingly, the commercialization of artificial intelligence (AI) is driving the success of these countries. Here are ETFs that provide direct exposure and forward-looking monitoring features.
EWT Rises as TSMC and Other AI Players Post Big Profits
Taiwan is home to the second best performing stock market in the world by 2026, and one of the most common ways to gain exposure is the iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF. NYSEARCA: EWT. The profit of this fund is around 50% per annum.
iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF Today
iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF
Starting at 10:59 AM Eastern
- 52 week interval
- $57.56
▼
$112.78
- Dividend Yield
- 2.80%
- Assets Under Administration
- $9.78 billion
The anchor holding of EWT is none other than Taiwanese stocks Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing NYSE: TSMthe world's largest powerhouse in the production of advanced chips.
TSMC takes the largest share of EWT, weighing about 22%. With this, together with TSMC's Taiwanese shares of approximately 50% by 2026, the stock has contributed significantly to EWT's return.
TSMC has had a very strong year, recently posting its fifth consecutive quarter of record revenue and profit.
The company also significantly increased its growth guidance for 2026 from over 30% to over 40% in US dollar terms.
It has also significantly increased its capex (CapEx) guidance and is planning an additional $100 billion investment in Arizona to build manufacturing facilities. This brings the company's total commitment to Arizona to $265 billion. This investment shows a high level of confidence in the company's long-term needs.
TSMC is far from the only Taiwanese stock posting big-time gains in 2026. In fact, more than 10 stocks on the EWT are up more than 100% this year. This includes MediaTek OTCMKTS: MDTKFIts Taiwanese shares are up nearly 140%, and second-largest heavyweight EWT is up nearly 6%. Reports indicate that MediaTek is involved in the development of Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL tensor processing units (TPUs). This is a huge opportunity for MediaTek, given that Broadcom NASDAQ: AVGO has grown its AI chip business mainly through its major partnership with Alphabet.
South Korea Takes the Cake as Memory Skyrockets
So far this year, South Korea has been the world's best-performing stock market. Company rating iShares MSCI South Korea ETF NYSEARCA: EWY is one of the main ways to gain exposure in South Korea. This fund has delivered an amazing return of over 70% by 2026. This comes even though we are down more than 20% from its peak.
Local shares of memory chip maker SK hynix NASDAQ: SKHY again Samsung Electronics OTCMKTS: SSNLF account for a large part of the fund. In total, their weight is about 45%, SK hynix 23% and Samsung 22%. Their South Korean shares rose more than 150% and nearly 100%, respectively.
Shares MSCI South Korea ETF today
iShares MSCI South Korea ETF
Starting at 10:59 AM Eastern
- 52 week interval
- $70.36
▼
$220.89
- Dividend Yield
- 1.19%
- Assets Under Administration
- $22.03 billion
A large memory chip shortage has brought big gains to these stocks. This comes as AI customers look to buy all high-bandwidth memory (HBM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and solid state drives (SSDs).
This led to strong revenue growth and margin expansion. For example, in Q1, SK Hynix's revenue increased 198% year over year, according to the Korean win.
In just one quarter, the margin increased by 1,000 points to 79%, and the operating margin increased by 1,400 points to 72%.
This comes as SK hynix said the average selling prices (ASPs) of its DRAM products increased during the quarter by an average of 60% quarter over quarter.
Americans can also now easily invest in SK hynix through the company's newly issued American depositary receipts (ADRs). However, one risk with this approach is that the company's ADRs trade at a premium to its South Korean shares. Recently, this premium dropped to 24.6%, down from 51%. In other words, American investors pay more for a company with the same fundamental value. This premium can continue to pressurize over time, depressing ADRs.
To Watch: CapEx, China-Taiwan Relations, Memory Margins
When it comes to EWT, hyperscaler CapEx spending and guidance will be key to watch going forward. Growth in these values will support TSMC's ability to continue to grow revenue, as well as that of many other smaller players in EWT. It's also worth looking at how important MediaTek's relationship with Alphabet is, and what kind of sales growth it translates into. In addition, investors should watch for signs of aggression from China against Taiwan and the US government's response.
Big Tech CapEx is an important signal for EWY. Further increases in memory prices and memory maker margins will also indicate that these companies continue to increase deficits to improve financial performance. It is also worth paying attention to how the premium on SK hynix's ADRs changes over time.
Before you consider the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat tracks Wall Street's top and most effective research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients every day. MarketBeat identified five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on… and the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF was not on the list.
Although iShares MSCI South Korea ETF currently has a hold rating among analysts, top analysts believe these five stocks are the best.
View Five Stocks Here
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