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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and XLP +13.8%.

Which is cheaper, SPY or XLP?

XLP 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 XLP overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SPY vs XLP: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPY returned +13.6% to XLP's +13.8%; 5% 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 $14.6bn for State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF.

SPY on its own →XLP on its own →

At a glance

+13.6%

SPY total return, 1 year

+13.8%

XLP total return, 1 year

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

0.08%

XLP expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLP costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.2 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $14.6bn.

SPY vs XLP: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SPY	XLP
Return
Measure	SPY	XLP
Total return, 1 year	+13.6%	+13.8%
Drawdown
Measure	SPY	XLP
Below its high		3.5%, high on Oct 22, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SPY	XLP
What it tracks	S&P 500 Index	Consumer Staples Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	SPY	XLP
Expense ratio	0.09%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$814.8bn	$14.6bn
Holdings
Measure	SPY	XLP
Holdings in common	5%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	38.1%	62.9%

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 XLP

Return

Total return edge SPY +897.4% +522.3%

Annualized edge SPY +8.6% +6.8%

Price return edge SPY +516.3% +225.0%

Risk

Volatility edge XLP 17.7% 14.3%

Max drawdown edge XLP −54.6% −34.6%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SPY 0.46 0.41

Sortino edge SPY 0.64 0.57

Calmar edge XLP 0.16 0.20

Reading

SPY returned more: +897.4% to +522.3%. XLP swung less: 14.3% to 17.7%. XLP fell less at its worst: −34.6% to −54.6%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: SPY vs XLP: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SPY	XLP	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+897.4%	+522.3%	SPY	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+8.6%	+6.8%	SPY	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+516.3%	+225.0%	SPY	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.7%	14.3%	XLP	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	12.6%	10.3%	XLP	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−54.6%	−34.6%	XLP	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.46	0.41	SPY	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.64	0.57	SPY	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.16	0.20	XLP	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 XLP hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

5% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SPY XLP

WALMART INC 0.80% 11.05%

COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP 0.66% 9.14%

PROCTER + GAMBLE CO 0.56% 7.69%

COCA COLA CO 0.53% 7.34%

PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL 0.47% 6.56%

PEPSICO INC 0.27% 4.10%

ALTRIA GROUP INC 0.18% 4.54%

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC A 0.12% 4.19%

COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO 0.11% 4.39%

TARGET CORP 0.10% 3.94%

MONSTER BEVERAGE CORP 0.10% 3.88%

VYLOR INC 0.07% 1.53%

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 XLP

XAP CONS STAPLES DEC26 0.01%

CONTRA WALGREENS BOOTS 0.00%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust XLP State Street Consumer Staples 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 Consumer staples

Total return, 1 year +13.6% +13.8%

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% 99.6%

Holdings 504 36

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $814.8bn $14.6bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-72D964E037

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

What each follows. SPY follows S&P 500 Index and XLP follows Consumer Staples Select Sector Index.
Holdings in common. 5% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
Number of holdings. SPY holds 504 positions and XLP holds 36.

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%.

XLP

XLP tracks an index of Consumer staples. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.8% 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 36 positions, with the top ten at 62.9%. It sat 3.5% below its high of Oct 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SPY or XLP?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +13.6% and XLP +13.8%.
Which is cheaper, SPY or XLP?: XLP 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 XLP overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 100% of SPY and 100% of XLP by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

SPY vs VDC SPY vs VHT SPY vs XLC SPY vs XLY IVV vs XLP VTI vs XLP VOO vs XLP SPYM vs XLP

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

State Street website ↗

XLP filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLP 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 XLP, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/spy-vs-xlp

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