Which returned more over the last year, USO or XLU?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and XLU −3.0%.

Which is cheaper, USO or XLU?

XLU is cheaper, by 0.78 percentage points a year. That is about $78 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USO vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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USO is a commodity futures fund and XLU an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% against −3.0%.

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Net assets: $1.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for United States Oil Fund, LP, and $23.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF.

USO on its own →XLU on its own →

At a glance

+133.3%

USO total return, 1 year

−3.0%

XLU total return, 1 year

0.86%

USO expense ratio

0.08%

XLU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLU costs 0.78 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 136.3 points; XLU is 12.6 times larger.

USO vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	XLU
Return
Measure	USO	XLU
Total return, 1 year	+133.3%	−3.0%
Drawdown
Measure	USO	XLU
Below its high	82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008	9.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	USO	XLU
What it tracks	Oil futures	Utilities Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	USO	XLU
Expense ratio	0.86%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.9bn	$23.9bn
Holdings
Measure	USO	XLU
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		58.7%

Method

Risk and return

Apr 21, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,070 weekly returns

USO XLU

Return

Total return edge XLU −70.9% +451.8%

Annualized edge XLU −5.8% +8.7%

Price return edge XLU −70.9% +172.4%

Risk

Volatility edge XLU 37.1% 18.1%

Max drawdown edge XLU −98.0% −45.2%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge XLU −0.02 0.45

Sortino edge XLU −0.03 0.64

Calmar edge XLU −0.06 0.19

Reading

XLU returned more: +451.8% to −70.9%. XLU swung less: 18.1% to 37.1%. XLU fell less at its worst: −45.2% to −98.0%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: USO vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	XLU	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	−70.9%	+451.8%	XLU	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	−5.8%	+8.7%	XLU	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	−70.9%	+172.4%	XLU	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	37.1%	18.1%	XLU	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	26.9%	13.0%	XLU	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−98.0%	−45.2%	XLU	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	−0.02	0.45	XLU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	−0.03	0.64	XLU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	−0.06	0.19	XLU	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,070 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

USO United States Oil Fund, LP XLU State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer USCF State Street

What it is Holds oil futures Tracks an index of Utilities

Total return, 1 year +133.3% −3.0%

Expense ratio 0.86% 0.08%

Holdings not counted 32

Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and XLU as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.9bn $23.9bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-7F3FF8C0F0

USO and XLU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. USO follows Oil futures and XLU follows Utilities Select Sector Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 USO returned +133.3% and XLU −3.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 136.3 points.
Cost. USO charges 0.86% of assets a year and XLU 0.08%, a gap of 0.78 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

USO

USO holds oil futures. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +133.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.86% a year. It sat 82.3% below its high of Jul 14, 2008 on Oct 28, 2026.

XLU

XLU tracks an index of Utilities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.0% 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 32 positions, with the top ten at 58.7%. It sat 9.1% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, USO or XLU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and XLU −3.0%.
Which is cheaper, USO or XLU?: XLU is cheaper, by 0.78 percentage points a year. That is about $78 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

USO vs VPU USO vs XLY USO vs XLI USO vs XLP BWET vs XLU GLDM vs XLU IAU vs XLU GLD vs XLU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USCF website ↗

XLU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLU prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, USO against XLU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/uso-vs-xlu

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