Do ITA and SHLD hold the same stocks?

By their latest filings, 30% 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, ITA or SHLD?

ITA has 81% of its weight in S&P 500 names and SHLD has 45%, so SHLD differs more from the index.

Which is cheaper, ITA or SHLD?

ITA charges 0.37% a year and SHLD charges 0.50%, so ITA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Thematic ETFs

ITA vs SHLD: Holdings Overlap & Returns

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ITA returned −4.3% to SHLD's −6.5%; 30% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $12.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF, and $6.3bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X Defense Tech ETF.

ITA on its own →SHLD on its own →

At a glance

80.8%

ITA in the S&P 500

44.6%

SHLD in the S&P 500

−4.3%

ITA total return, 1 year

−6.5%

SHLD total return, 1 year

ITA · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 19% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

81% of ITA's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 19% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 27, 2026.

SHLD · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 55% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

45% of SHLD's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 55% is outside the index. Holdings as of May 31, 2026.

Pair scorecard

ITA costs 0.13 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.2 points; ITA is 1.9 times larger.

ITA vs SHLD: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Measure	ITA	SHLD
Return
Measure	ITA	SHLD
Total return, 1 year	−4.3%	−6.5%
Drawdown
Measure	ITA	SHLD
Below its all-time high	17.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026	18.6%, high on Mar 9, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ITA	SHLD
What it tracks	Defense	Defense
Cost and size
Measure	ITA	SHLD
Expense ratio	0.37%	0.50%
Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026	$12.0bn	$6.3bn
Holdings
Measure	ITA	SHLD
Holdings in common	30%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Sep 22, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 161 weekly returns

ITA SHLD

Return

Total return edge SHLD +95.0% +161.2%

Annualized edge SHLD +24.1% +36.4%

Price return edge SHLD +90.5% +156.8%

Risk

Volatility edge ITA 20.5% 24.0%

Max drawdown edge ITA −20.0% −25.1%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SHLD 0.94 1.23

Sortino edge SHLD 1.42 2.17

Calmar edge SHLD 1.20 1.45

Reading

SHLD returned more: +161.2% to +95.0%. ITA swung less: 20.5% to 24.0%. ITA fell less at its worst: −20.0% to −25.1%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: ITA vs SHLD: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Measure	ITA	SHLD	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+95.0%	+161.2%	SHLD	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+24.1%	+36.4%	SHLD	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+90.5%	+156.8%	SHLD	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	20.5%	24.0%	ITA	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	13.6%	13.5%	Tie	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−20.0%	−25.1%	ITA	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.94	1.23	SHLD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	1.42	2.17	SHLD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	1.20	1.45	SHLD	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 161 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

30%

By the books each fund has filed, ITA and SHLD hold 30% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

30% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ITA SHLD

RTX 17.06% 7.75%

LOCKHEED MARTIN 5.66% 8.41%

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 4.79% 7.67%

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP 5.09% 4.23%

L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES 3.77% 4.69%

BWX TECHNOLOGIES INC 0.96% 3.05%

HUNTINGTON INGALLS INDUSTRIES 0.87% 2.04%

MOOG INC CLASS A 0.78% 1.70%

AEROVIRONMENT 0.37% 1.32%

KARMAN HOLDINGS INC 0.37% 0.83%

MERCURY SYSTEMS INC 0.34% 1.13%

VOYAGER TECHNOLOGIES CLASS A 0.12% 0.43%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in ITA

GE AEROSPACE 20.09%

BOEING 6.81%

TRANSDIGM GROUP 4.78%

HONEYWELL AEROSPACE INC 4.16%

HOWMET AEROSPACE 3.93%

AXON ENTERPRISE 2.70%

ROCKET LAB CORP 2.51%

ATI 1.77%

Only in SHLD

PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC. 7.07%

Rheinmetall Aktiengesellschaft 5.76%

BAE SYSTEMS PLC 4.88%

HANWHA AEROSPACE CO., LTD. 4.40%

LEONARDO - SOCIETA PER AZIONI 4.35%

THALES SA 4.27%

ELBIT SYSTEMS LTD 4.13%

SAAB Aktiebolag 3.82%

Check overlap with more funds →

Window by window

Window by window: ITA vs SHLD: Holdings Overlap & Returns
	Total return
Window	ITA	SHLD
3 months	−12.0%	+2.0%
6 months	−2.4%	−4.7%
1 year	−4.3%	−6.5%
3 years	+97.8%	+156.5%
Since launchNot the same days: ITA May 2006 · SHLD Sep 2023	+892.2%	+160.2%

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Side by side

ITA iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF · Holds 51 stocks in defense, 81% of its weight in S&P 500 companies SHLD Global X Defense Tech ETF · Holds 48 stocks in defense, 45% of its weight in S&P 500 companies

Issuer iShares Global X

Theme Defense Defense

In the S&P 500 80.8% 44.6%

Active share vs the S&P 500 97.7% 98.7%

In the Nasdaq-100 2.7% 7.1%

Holdings 51 48

Top ten, share of the fund 76.1% 59.3%

Expense ratio 0.37% 0.50%

Fee for the differing part 0.38% 0.51%

Total return, 1 year −4.3% −6.5%

vs its benchmark not measured not measured

Below its high −17.9% −18.6%

Net assets, ITA as of Oct 27, 2026 and SHLD as of Oct 12, 2026 $12.0bn $6.3bn

As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

30% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

Client brief

No client brief for this pair: the two funds' holdings are dated 149 days apart.

Alert

About each fund

ITA

By weight, 81% of ITA'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 76% of the fund across 51 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned −4.3% with distributions reinvested. It sits 17.9% below its all-time high of Aug 14, 2026.

SHLD

By weight, 45% of SHLD's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 99%. The top ten holdings are 59% of the fund across 48 positions, as filed for May 31, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned −6.5% with distributions reinvested. It sits 18.6% below its all-time high of Mar 9, 2026.

Questions people ask

Do ITA and SHLD hold the same stocks?: By their latest filings, 30% 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, ITA or SHLD?: ITA has 81% of its weight in S&P 500 names and SHLD has 45%, so SHLD differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, ITA or SHLD?: ITA charges 0.37% a year and SHLD charges 0.50%, so ITA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

ITA vs PPA ITA vs WDEF ITA vs NATO ITA vs WAR SHLD vs TSSD SHLD vs WDGF SHLD vs AMMO SHLD vs WR

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ITA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ITA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ITA ↗

SHLD filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SHLD prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Global X page for SHLD ↗

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, ITA against SHLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/ita-vs-shld

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