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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, XLB returned +18.5% and XRT +2.4%.

Which is cheaper, XLB or XRT?

XLB is cheaper, by 0.27 percentage points a year. That is about $27 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 100% of XLB and 22% of XRT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

XLB vs XRT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XLB returned +18.5% to XRT's +2.4%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $8.1bn for State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF and $362m for State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF.

XLB on its own →XRT on its own →

At a glance

+18.5%

XLB total return, 1 year

+2.4%

XRT total return, 1 year

0.08%

XLB expense ratio

0.35%

XRT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLB costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 16.1 points; XLB is far larger, $8.1bn against $362m.

XLB vs XRT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	XLB	XRT
Return
Measure	XLB	XRT
Total return, 1 year	+18.5%	+2.4%
Drawdown
Measure	XLB	XRT
Below its high		9.9%, high on Nov 16, 2021
Benchmark
Measure	XLB	XRT
What it tracks	Materials Select Sector Index	S&P Retail Select Industry Index
Cost and size
Measure	XLB	XRT
Expense ratio	0.08%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$8.1bn	$362m
Holdings
Measure	XLB	XRT
Holdings in common	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	58.5%	16.6%

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

What they share

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

Only in one fund ↓

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%

Only in XRT

KOHLS CORP 1.85%

MAPLEBEAR INC 1.76%

BATH + BODY WORKS INC 1.69%

ETSY INC 1.68%

VICTORIA S SECRET + CO 1.66%

BJ S WHOLESALE CLUB HOLDINGS 1.62%

GAMESTOP CORP CLASS A 1.60%

OLLIE S BARGAIN OUTLET HOLDI 1.60%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

XLB State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF XRT State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street State Street

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

Total return, 1 year +18.5% +2.4%

Expense ratio 0.08% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 99.8% 22.5%

Holdings 25 74

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $8.1bn $362m

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

Alert

About each fund

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%.

XRT

XRT tracks the S&P Retail. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 22% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 74 positions, with the top ten at 16.6%. It sat 9.9% below its high of Nov 16, 2021 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, XLB or XRT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, XLB returned +18.5% and XRT +2.4%.
Which is cheaper, XLB or XRT?: XLB is cheaper, by 0.27 percentage points a year. That is about $27 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do XLB and XRT overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 100% of XLB and 22% of XRT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

XLB vs XLY XHB vs XLB IYM vs XLB VAW vs XLB XLC vs XRT XLI vs XRT XLV vs XRT XLF vs XRT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

XLB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

XRT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

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