Are IBB and XLI in the same category?

IBB is a thematic ETF and XLI is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.

Which returned more over the last year, IBB or XLI?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and XLI +10.2%.

Which is cheaper, IBB or XLI?

XLI is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do IBB and XLI overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 100% of XLI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IBB vs XLI: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IBB returned +37.5% to XLI's +10.2%, and XLI charges 0.08% to IBB's 0.44%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $11.0bn for iShares Biotechnology ETF and $30.8bn for State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF.

IBB on its own →XLI on its own →

At a glance

+37.5%

IBB total return, 1 year

+10.2%

XLI total return, 1 year

0.44%

IBB expense ratio

0.08%

XLI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLI costs 0.36 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 27.3 points; XLI is 2.8 times larger.

IBB vs XLI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IBB	XLI
Return
Measure	IBB	XLI
Total return, 1 year	+37.5%	+10.2%
Drawdown
Measure	IBB	XLI
Below its high		9.4%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IBB	XLI
What it tracks	Biotech	Industrial Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	IBB	XLI
Expense ratio	0.44%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$11.0bn	$30.8bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	99%
Holdings
Measure	IBB	XLI
Holdings in common	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	50%	37.8%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IBB and XLI hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IBB XLI

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IBB

GILEAD SCIENCES 8.56%

AMGEN INC 8.20%

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 7.53%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 5.64%

MODERNA 5.29%

NATERA 3.85%

ARGENX SE ADR 3.42%

ILLUMINA INC 2.93%

Only in XLI

CATERPILLAR INC 6.14%

GENERAL ELECTRIC 5.79%

RTX CORP 4.91%

GE VERNOVA INC 4.47%

UNION PACIFIC CORP 3.34%

DEERE + CO 3.01%

EATON CORP PLC 2.79%

UBER TECHNOLOGIES INC 2.52%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF XLI State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Biotech Tracks an index of Industrials

Total return, 1 year +37.5% +10.2%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +13.6% (SPY)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −3.4 pts vs SPY

Expense ratio 0.44% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 40.2% 99.9%

Holdings 245 84

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $11.0bn $30.8bn

IBB and XLI on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

IBB

By weight, 40% of IBB's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 99%. The top ten holdings are 50% of the fund across 245 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +37.5% with distributions reinvested.

XLI

XLI tracks an index of Industrials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.2% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 84 positions, with the top ten at 37.8%. It sat 9.4% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Are IBB and XLI in the same category?: IBB is a thematic ETF and XLI is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, IBB or XLI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IBB returned +37.5% and XLI +10.2%.
Which is cheaper, IBB or XLI?: XLI is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IBB and XLI overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 40% of IBB and 100% of XLI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IBB vs XLY IBB vs XLC IBB vs VHT IBB vs XLP XBI vs XLI AIRR vs XLI GDX vs XLI LYTE vs XLI

Where to next

IBB on its own →XLI on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →IBB dividend history →IBB holdings →XLI dividend history →XLI holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

IBB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IBB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IBB ↗

XLI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, IBB against XLI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ibb-vs-xli

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.