Data as of Sep 4, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
ITA vs QQQ
iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF and Invesco QQQ Trust.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, ITA and QQQ hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | ITA | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. | 3.17% | 0.16% |
| Only in ITA | Only in QQQ |
|---|---|
| GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 22.63% | NVIDIA Corp. 8.16% |
| RTX CORPORATION 14.83% | Apple Inc. 7.29% |
| THE BOEING COMPANY 8.90% | Microsoft Corp. 5.32% |
| TRANSDIGM GROUP INCORPORATED 4.59% | Micron Technology, Inc. 4.80% |
| HOWMET AEROSPACE INC. 4.50% | Amazon.com, Inc. 4.62% |
| GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION 4.34% | Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 3.70% |
| LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION 4.05% | Alphabet Inc. 3.52% |
| Northrop Grumman Corporation 3.92% | Tesla, Inc. 3.46% |
Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings as filed for Jun 30, 2026 and May 31, 2026.
| ITA iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF | QQQ Invesco QQQ Trust | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Themes desk | Core fund |
| Issuer | iShares | Invesco |
| What it is | Defense | Nasdaq-100, book from QQQM |
| Total return, 1 year | +14.2% | +25.6% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +20.0% | +20.0% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −5.7 pts | +5.6 pts |
| Expense ratio | not published | 0.18% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 76.6% | 96.7% |
| Holdings | 49 | 101 |
ITA in plain words
By weight, 77% of ITA's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 98%. The top ten holdings are 75% of the fund across 49 positions, as filed for Jun 30, 2026. Over the year to Sep 4, 2026 the fund returned +14.2% with distributions reinvested against +20.0% for the S&P 500, so a holder was behind by 5.7 pts. It sits 10.9% below its all-time high of Aug 14, 2026.
QQQ in plain words
QQQ is a index equity fund tracking Nasdaq-100, book from QQQM. Over the year to Sep 4, 2026 it returned +25.6% with distributions reinvested, against +20.0% for the S&P 500 and +25.6% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 101 positions, with the top ten at 47.5%. It sat 3.5% below its high of Jun 2, 2026 on Sep 4, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, ITA or QQQ?
- In the year to Sep 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ITA returned +14.2% and QQQ returned +25.6%, so QQQ returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- How much do ITA and QQQ overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 77% of ITA and 97% of QQQ by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 0% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
- Are ITA and QQQ the same kind of fund?
- No. ITA is a thematic ETF and QQQ is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.
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Where these figures came from
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, ITA against QQQ, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ITA-QQQ.html Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources