IQ

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

vsCompare their flowsaskIQ about these two fundsAsk the committee about these two funds
Across categories

SPY vs XLE: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share
Share on XDownload as PDF

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPY returned +13.6% to XLE's +61.2%; 4% of their weight is in the same names.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about SPY and XLE

Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and $45.2bn for State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF.

SPY on its own →XLE on its own →
At a glance
+13.6%
SPY total return, 1 year
+61.2%
XLE total return, 1 year
0.09%
SPY expense ratio
0.08%
XLE expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLE costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 47.6 points; SPY is 18.0 times larger.

SPY vs XLE: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureSPYXLE
Return
Total return, 1 year+13.6%+61.2%
Benchmark
What it tracksS&P 500 IndexEnergy Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.09%0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026$814.8bn$45.2bn
Holdings
Holdings in common4%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund38.1%78.1%

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

What they share

4%

By the books each fund has filed, SPY and XLE hold 4% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

4% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SPY XLE
EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 1.11% 23.98%
CHEVRON CORP 0.68% 18.21%
CONOCOPHILLIPS 0.27% 7.18%
MARATHON PETROLEUM CORP 0.18% 4.67%
VALERO ENERGY CORP 0.17% 4.26%
PHILLIPS 66 0.16% 4.41%
WILLIAMS COS INC 0.14% 4.22%
EOG RESOURCES INC 0.13% 4.07%
SLB LTD 0.12% 3.86%
KINDER MORGAN INC 0.10% 3.19%
TARGA RESOURCES CORP 0.10% 3.12%
ONEOK INC 0.09% 2.91%
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 XLE
XAE ENERGY DEC26 0.01%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust XLE State Street Energy 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 Energy
Total return, 1 year +13.6% +61.2%
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 22
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $814.8bn $45.2bn

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

Alert

SPY and XLE flows, by email on Sundays.

One-click unsubscribe. See Privacy.

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%.

XLE

XLE tracks an index of Energy. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +61.2% 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 22 positions, with the top ten at 78.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SPY or XLE?
In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and XLE +61.2%.
Which is cheaper, SPY or XLE?
XLE 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 XLE overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 100% of SPY and 100% of XLE by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
SPY vs VDESPY vs XOPIYE vs SPYSPY vs XLVVOO vs XLEIVV vs XLEVTI vs XLESPYM vs XLE
Where to next
SPY on its own →XLE on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →SPY dividend history →SPY holdings →XLE dividend history →XLE holdings →Standards and sources →
Sources and dates
SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗
State Street website ↗
XLE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗
XLE 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 XLE, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-xle

Open data →

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