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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and XLB +18.5%.

Which is cheaper, SPY or XLB?

XLB is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do SPY and XLB overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SPY vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPY returned +13.6% to XLB's +18.5%; 2% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and $8.1bn for State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF.

SPY on its own →XLB on its own →

At a glance

+13.6%

SPY total return, 1 year

+18.5%

XLB total return, 1 year

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

0.08%

XLB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLB costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.9 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $8.1bn.

SPY vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SPY	XLB
Return
Measure	SPY	XLB
Total return, 1 year	+13.6%	+18.5%
Benchmark
Measure	SPY	XLB
What it tracks	S&P 500 Index	Materials Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	SPY	XLB
Expense ratio	0.09%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$814.8bn	$8.1bn
Holdings
Measure	SPY	XLB
Holdings in common	2%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	38.1%	58.5%

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

Risk and return

Dec 31, 1998 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,451 weekly returns

SPY XLB

Return

Total return edge SPY +897.4% +771.9%

Annualized edge SPY (slight) +8.6% +8.1%

Price return edge SPY +516.3% +368.2%

Risk

Volatility edge SPY 17.7% 22.5%

Max drawdown edge SPY (slight) −54.6% −59.0%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SPY 0.46 0.38

Sortino edge SPY 0.64 0.55

Calmar edge SPY 0.16 0.14

Reading

SPY returned more: +897.4% to +771.9%. SPY swung less: 17.7% to 22.5%. SPY fell slightly less at its worst: −54.6% to −59.0%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: SPY vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SPY	XLB	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+897.4%	+771.9%	SPY	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+8.6%	+8.1%	SPY (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+516.3%	+368.2%	SPY	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.7%	22.5%	SPY	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	12.6%	15.6%	SPY	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−54.6%	−59.0%	SPY (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.46	0.38	SPY	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.64	0.55	SPY	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.16	0.14	SPY	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,451 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, SPY and XLB hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

2% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SPY XLB

LINDE PLC 0.35% 12.96%

NEWMONT CORP 0.18% 6.56%

FREEPORT MCMORAN INC 0.14% 5.23%

SHERWIN WILLIAMS CO 0.11% 4.73%

ECOLAB INC 0.11% 4.98%

AIR PRODUCTS + CHEMICALS INC 0.10% 4.84%

NUCOR CORP 0.09% 4.89%

CRH PLC 0.09% 4.47%

VULCAN MATERIALS CO 0.05% 4.89%

STEEL DYNAMICS INC 0.05% 4.77%

MARTIN MARIETTA MATERIALS 0.05% 4.62%

PPG INDUSTRIES INC 0.04% 3.85%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in SPY

NVIDIA CORP 7.92%

APPLE INC 7.61%

MICROSOFT CORP 5.93%

AMAZON.COM INC 3.73%

ALPHABET INC CL A 2.83%

BROADCOM INC 2.45%

ALPHABET INC CL C 2.26%

META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A 2.06%

Only in XLB

XAB MATERIALS DEC26 0.00%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust XLB State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street State Street

What it is Tracks the S&P 500 Tracks an index of Materials

Total return, 1 year +13.6% +18.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.7% (VOO) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs VOO not measured

Expense ratio 0.09% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 99.8% 99.8%

Holdings 504 25

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $814.8bn $8.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-DFAFCF34E1

SPY and XLB do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. SPY follows S&P 500 Index and XLB follows Materials Select Sector Index.
Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SPY returned +13.6% and XLB +18.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.9 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

SPY

SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% 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 504 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.

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, SPY or XLB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and XLB +18.5%.
Which is cheaper, SPY or XLB?: XLB is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do SPY and XLB overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 100% of SPY and 100% of XLB by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

SPY vs XHB SPY vs VPU SPY vs VDC SPY vs VDE VOO vs XLB IVV vs XLB VTI vs XLB SPYM vs XLB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

State Street website ↗

XLB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

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

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