Do GDX and XAR hold the same stocks?

By their latest filings, 0% of their books are the same securities at the same weight. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.

Which is more different from the S&P 500, GDX or XAR?

GDX has 12% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XAR has 40%, so GDX differs more from the index.

Which is cheaper, GDX or XAR?

GDX charges 0.51% a year and XAR charges 0.35%, so XAR is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Thematic ETFs

GDX vs XAR: Holdings Overlap & Returns

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GDX returned +19.0% to XAR's −10.0%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about GDX and XAR

Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $25.6bn for VanEck Gold Miners ETF and $5.0bn for State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF.

GDX on its own →XAR on its own →

At a glance

11.7%

GDX in the S&P 500

39.7%

XAR in the S&P 500

+19.0%

GDX total return, 1 year

−10.0%

XAR total return, 1 year

GDX · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 88% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

12% of GDX's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 88% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 22, 2026.

XAR · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 60% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

40% of XAR's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 60% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 27, 2026.

Pair scorecard

XAR costs 0.16 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 29.0 points; GDX is 5.1 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

GDX vs XAR: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Measure	GDX	XAR
Return
Measure	GDX	XAR
Total return, 1 year	+19.0%	−10.0%
Drawdown
Measure	GDX	XAR
Below its all-time high	27.5%, high on Feb 27, 2026	24.1%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Against its benchmark
Measure	GDX	XAR
What it tracks	Gold miners	Defense
Against the S&P 500, 1 year		behind by 23.7 pts
Its benchmark, total return, 1 year	+13.4%	+13.7%
Against its benchmark, 1 year	ahead by 5.6 pts	behind by 23.7 pts
Cost and size
Measure	GDX	XAR
Expense ratio	0.51%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$25.6bn	$5.0bn
Holdings
Measure	GDX	XAR
Holdings in common	0%

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

Risk and return

Oct 7, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 785 weekly returns

GDX XAR

Return

Total return edge XAR +69.1% +905.6%

Annualized edge XAR +3.5% +16.5%

Price return edge XAR +46.1% +760.2%

Risk

Volatility edge XAR 37.0% 23.3%

Max drawdown edge XAR −78.0% −45.1%

Downside capture 74.9% 107.2%

Beta 0.76 1.16

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge XAR 0.24 0.70

Sortino edge XAR 0.34 1.05

Treynor 0.127 0.141

Calmar edge XAR 0.05 0.37

Against the benchmark

Alpha +3.4% a year +0.3% a year

Alpha t-stat 0.41 0.08

Information ratio 0.04 0.17

Tracking error 36.4% 14.6%

Each against its own benchmark: GDX against ACWI, Apr 4, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026; XAR against VOO, Oct 7, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

XAR returned more: +905.6% to +69.1%. XAR swung less: 23.3% to 37.0%. XAR fell less at its worst: −45.1% to −78.0%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: GDX vs XAR: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Measure	GDX	XAR	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+69.1%	+905.6%	XAR	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+3.5%	+16.5%	XAR	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+46.1%	+760.2%	XAR	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	37.0%	23.3%	XAR	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	25.5%	15.5%	XAR	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−78.0%	−45.1%	XAR	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	50.2%	115.9%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	74.9%	107.2%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	0.76	1.16	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.13	0.62	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.24	0.70	XAR	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.34	1.05	XAR	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.127	0.141		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.05	0.37	XAR	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	ACWI	VOO		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	+3.4% a year	+0.3% a year	Not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	0.41	0.08	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−13.0% to +19.9%	−7.0% to +7.6%	Includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	0.04	0.17		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	36.4%	14.6%	Not an edge	How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 785 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, GDX and XAR 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 GDX XAR

Only in one fund ↓

Only in GDX

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd 11.45%

Newmont Corp 11.42%

Barrick Mining Corp 8.07%

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp 5.50%

Franco-Nevada Corp 5.33%

Anglogold Ashanti Plc 4.78%

Gold Fields Ltd 3.96%

Kinross Gold Corp 3.88%

Only in XAR

LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP 3.69%

HONEYWELL AEROSPACE INC 3.44%

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP 3.32%

L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES INC 3.21%

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 3.12%

TRANSDIGM GROUP INC 3.12%

HUNTINGTON INGALLS INDUSTRIE 3.11%

HEICO CORP 3.07%

Check overlap with more funds →

Window by window

Window by window: GDX vs XAR: Holdings Overlap & Returns
	Total return		vs its benchmark
Window	GDX	XAR	GDX	XAR
3 months	+14.1%	−12.8%	+9.7 pts vs ACWI	−18.9 pts vs VOO
6 months	−2.6%	−9.9%	−10.0 pts vs ACWI	−19.0 pts vs VOO
1 year	+19.0%	−10.0%	+5.6 pts vs ACWI	−23.7 pts vs VOO
3 years	+197.7%	+103.5%	+108.8 pts vs ACWI	+8.0 pts vs VOO
Since launchNot the same days: GDX May 2006 · XAR Sep 2011	+173.0%	+945.4%	not measured	+171.9 pts vs VOO

Open this comparison in the app →

Side by side

GDX VanEck Gold Miners ETF · Holds 59 stocks in gold miners, 12% of its weight in S&P 500 companies XAR State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF · Holds 50 stocks in defense, 40% of its weight in S&P 500 companies

Issuer VanEck State Street

Theme Gold miners Defense

In the S&P 500 11.7% 39.7%

Active share vs the S&P 500 99.8% 97.7%

In the Nasdaq-100 0.0% 2.7%

Holdings 59 50

Top ten, share of the fund 60.1% 32.2%

Expense ratio 0.51% 0.35%

Fee for the differing part 0.51% 0.36%

Total return, 1 year +19.0% −10.0%

vs its benchmark +5.6 pts vs ACWI −23.7 pts vs VOO

Below its high −27.5% −24.1%

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $25.6bn $5.0bn

As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

0% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-6A43B26761

GDX and XAR are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

Theme. GDX covers Gold miners and XAR covers Defense.
Concentration. The top ten holdings are 60.1% of GDX and 32.2% of XAR, a gap of 27.9 points.
What each follows. GDX follows Gold miners and XAR follows Defense.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.

Your saved page · Privacy.

Alert

About each fund

GDX

By weight, 12% of GDX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 60% of the fund across 59 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +19.0% with distributions reinvested against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Index, so a holder was ahead by 5.6 pts. It sits 27.5% below its all-time high of Feb 27, 2026.

XAR

By weight, 40% of XAR's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 98%. The top ten holdings are 32% of the fund across 50 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned −10.0% with distributions reinvested against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, so a holder was behind by 23.7 pts. It sits 24.1% below its all-time high of Aug 14, 2026.

Questions people ask

Do GDX and XAR hold the same stocks?: By their latest filings, 0% of their books are the same securities at the same weight. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.
Which is more different from the S&P 500, GDX or XAR?: GDX has 12% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XAR has 40%, so GDX differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, GDX or XAR?: GDX charges 0.51% a year and XAR charges 0.35%, so XAR is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

GDX vs SHLD GDX vs PPA GDX vs ITA GDX vs IDEF XAR vs GDXJ XAR vs GRID XAR vs BOTZ XAR vs NLR

Where to next

All thematic ETFs ranked by the S&P 500 Difference Score →How the scores are computed →GDX on its own →XAR on its own →GDX dividend history →GDX holdings →XAR dividend history →XAR holdings →Method →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

GDX filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

GDX prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

VanEck website ↗

XAR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XAR prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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.

Every number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, GDX against XAR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/gdx-vs-xar

Open data →

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