Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
QUAL vs XLK: how they differ
QUAL and XLK hold 31% of their weight in the same names, and XLK returned more over the year.
iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF and State Street(R) Technology Select Sector SPDR(R) ETF.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, QUAL and XLK hold 31% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | QUAL | XLK |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA CORPORATION | 6.52% | 14.66% |
| APPLE INC. | 6.28% | 12.86% |
| MICROSOFT CORPORATION | 5.05% | 8.38% |
| LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION | 3.23% | 3.02% |
| APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. | 2.45% | 3.20% |
| KLA CORPORATION | 2.79% | 2.20% |
| QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 1.42% | 1.09% |
| ARISTA NETWORKS, INC. | 1.49% | 0.98% |
| APPLOVIN CORPORATION | 0.67% | 0.77% |
| CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC. | 0.57% | 0.58% |
| FORTINET, INC. | 0.76% | 0.53% |
| ADOBE INC. | 1.19% | 0.46% |
| Only in QUAL | Only in XLK |
|---|---|
| META PLATFORMS, INC. 3.50% | Micron Technology Inc 5.42% |
| THE TJX COMPANIES, INC. 3.19% | Broadcom Inc 5.41% |
| VISA INC. 3.09% | Advanced Micro Devices Inc 5.28% |
| ELI LILLY AND COMPANY 2.92% | Intel Corp 3.68% |
| ALPHABET INC. 2.54% | Cisco Systems Inc 2.59% |
| CATERPILLAR INC. 2.52% | Sandisk Corp 1.88% |
| MASTERCARD INCORPORATED 2.30% | Palo Alto Networks Inc 1.54% |
| ALPHABET INC. 2.12% | Texas Instruments Inc 1.51% |
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 dated Apr 30, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.
| QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF | XLK State Street(R) Technology Select Sector SPDR(R) ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | iShares | State Street |
| What it is | MSCI USA Quality Factor | Technology |
| Total return, 1 year | +16.0% | +39.2% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −1.5 pts | +21.7 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.08% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 98.9% | 100.0% |
| Holdings | 121 | 74 |
QUAL in plain words
QUAL is an index equity fund tracking the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +16.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings filed for Apr 30, 2026, 99% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 121 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%. It sat 3.1% below its high of Aug 13, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
XLK in plain words
XLK is an index equity fund tracking the Technology. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +39.2% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 74 positions, with the top ten at 64.5%. It sat 5.2% below its high of Jun 2, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QUAL or XLK?
- In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QUAL returned +16.0% and XLK returned +39.2%, so XLK returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, QUAL or XLK?
- QUAL charges 0.15% a year and XLK charges 0.08%, so XLK is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do QUAL and XLK overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 99% of QUAL and 100% of XLK by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 31% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
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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, QUAL against XLK, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/QUAL-XLK Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources