Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QQQ vs XLY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QQQ returned +15.2% to XLY's −3.6%; 10% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $483.0bn for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 and $22.4bn for State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF.
Pair scorecard
XLY costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 18.8 points; QQQ is far larger, $483.0bn against $22.4bn.
| Measure | QQQ | XLY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +15.2% | −3.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | 6.8%, high on Jan 12, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Nasdaq-100 Index | Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | 0.08% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $483.0bn | $22.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 10% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | 68.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Mar 19, 1999 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,440 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: QQQ against QQQM, Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026; XLY against SPY, Dec 31, 1998 to Oct 23, 2026.
QQQ returned more: +1,532.3% to +962.5%. XLY swung slightly less: 22.0% to 24.3%. XLY fell less at its worst: −58.4% to −82.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QQQ | XLY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +1,532.3% | +962.5% | QQQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +10.6% | +8.9% | QQQ | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +1,275.8% | +678.4% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 24.3% | 22.0% | XLY (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 17.0% | 15.0% | XLY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −82.7% | −58.4% | XLY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 100.4% | 118.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.2% | 106.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.10 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.77 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.46 | 0.42 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.66 | 0.61 | QQQ (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.145 | 0.087 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.13 | 0.15 | XLY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | QQQM | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | +0.7% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.58 | 0.34 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.2% | −3.2% to +4.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.10 | 0.14 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 10.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,440 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, QQQ and XLY hold 10% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
10% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QQQ and XLY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
QQQ and XLY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. QQQ follows Nasdaq-100 Index and XLY follows Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index.
- Holdings in common. 10% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 QQQ returned +15.2% and XLY −3.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 18.8 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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QQQ
QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.2% with distributions reinvested, against +15.2% for its benchmark, the Nasdaq-100 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 103 positions, with the top ten at 46.7%. It sat 4.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
XLY
XLY tracks an index of Consumer discretionary. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.6% 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 48 positions, with the top ten at 68.5%. It sat 6.8% below its high of Jan 12, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QQQ or XLY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QQQ returned +15.2% and XLY −3.6%.
- Which is cheaper, QQQ or XLY?
- XLY is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, QQQ against XLY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-xly
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). QQQ against XLY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-xly
[QQQ against XLY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-xly)
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