Which returned more over the last year, SHY or XLB?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SHY returned +1.6% and XLB +18.5%.

Which is cheaper, SHY or XLB?

XLB is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SHY vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SHY returned +1.6% to XLB's +18.5%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $27.4bn for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF and $8.1bn for State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF.

SHY on its own →XLB on its own →

At a glance

+1.6%

SHY total return, 1 year

+18.5%

XLB total return, 1 year

0.15%

SHY expense ratio

0.08%

XLB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLB costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 16.9 points; SHY is 3.4 times larger.

SHY vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SHY	XLB
Return
Measure	SHY	XLB
Total return, 1 year	+1.6%	+18.5%
Benchmark
Measure	SHY	XLB
What it tracks	ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index	Materials Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	SHY	XLB
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$27.4bn	$8.1bn
Holdings
Measure	SHY	XLB
Holdings in common	0%
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		58.5%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, SHY and XLB 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 SHY XLB

Only in one fund ↓

Only in SHY

TREASURY NOTE 2.11%

TREASURY NOTE 1.99%

TREASURY NOTE 1.83%

TREASURY NOTE 1.73%

TREASURY NOTE 1.62%

TREASURY NOTE 1.54%

TREASURY NOTE 1.51%

TREASURY NOTE 1.49%

Only in XLB

LINDE PLC 12.96%

NEWMONT CORP 6.56%

FREEPORT MCMORAN INC 5.23%

ECOLAB INC 4.98%

VULCAN MATERIALS CO 4.89%

NUCOR CORP 4.89%

AIR PRODUCTS + CHEMICALS INC 4.84%

STEEL DYNAMICS INC 4.77%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SHY iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF XLB State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Tracks an index of Materials

Total return, 1 year +1.6% +18.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +1.7% (BBSB) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs BBSB not measured

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.08%

Holdings 90 25

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $27.4bn $8.1bn

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

Alert

About each fund

SHY

SHY tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.6% with distributions reinvested, against +1.7% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year.

XLB

XLB tracks an index of Materials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.5% with distributions reinvested. 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 25 positions, with the top ten at 58.5%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SHY or XLB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SHY returned +1.6% and XLB +18.5%.
Which is cheaper, SHY or XLB?: XLB is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

SHY vs VPU SHY vs VDC SHY vs VDE SHY vs VOX VGSH vs XLB IEI vs XLB VGIT vs XLB USHY vs XLB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SHY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SHY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for SHY ↗

XLB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLB 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, SHY against XLB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/shy-vs-xlb

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