Do XAR and XBI hold the same stocks?

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

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

XAR has 38% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XBI has 13%, so XBI differs more from the index.

Which is cheaper, XAR or XBI?

XAR and XBI both charge 0.35% a year, so neither is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Share on X Download as PDF Open live Compare their flows Ask about these two funds

XAR vs XBI: which is really different?

XAR and XBI hold 0% of their weight in the same names, and XBI returned +45.0% over the year. State Street(R) SPDR(R) S&P(R) Aerospace & Defense ETF and State Street(R) SPDR(R) S&P(R) Biotech ETF.

Both cost 0.35% a year; their one-year returns differ by 51.8 points; XBI is 1.8 times larger.

	XAR	XBI
Expense ratio	0.35%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026	$5.5bn	$9.9bn
Total return, 1 year	−6.8%	+45.0%
What it tracks	Defense	Biotech
Holdings in common	0%
S&P 500, total return, 1 year	+17.3%
Against the S&P 500, 1 year	behind by 24.1 pts	ahead by 27.7 pts
Below its all-time high	23.0%, high on Aug 14, 2026	11.1%, high on Feb 8, 2021

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 8, 2026.

37.5%

XAR in the S&P 500

12.7%

XBI in the S&P 500

−6.8%

XAR total return, 1 year

+45.0%

XBI total return, 1 year

XAR · 1 year to Oct 9, 202663% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

38% of XAR's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 63% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.

XBI · 1 year to Oct 9, 202687% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

13% of XBI's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 87% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.

ETFIQ Off-Index Score · XBI scores higherHow much of it is not the index it is sold as an alternative to?

XAR 44.6

XBI 55.2

0.1, the lowest in this set92.3, the highest

A percentile among the 391 thematic ETFs with a holdings filing. All thematic ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, XAR and XBI hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Oct 8, 2026.

50%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding XAR XBI

Only in XAR

ROCKET LAB CORP 3.33%

HONEYWELL AEROSPACE INC 3.12%

MOOG INC CLASS A 3.03%

LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP 2.97%

TRANSDIGM GROUP INC 2.97%

AEROVIRONMENT INC 2.95%

WOODWARD INC 2.94%

HOWMET AEROSPACE INC 2.94%

Only in XBI

MODERNA INC 2.20%

TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP 1.84%

NATERA INC 1.79%

ABBVIE INC 1.65%

UNITED THERAPEUTICS CORP 1.59%

AMGEN INC 1.58%

BIOGEN INC 1.57%

HALOZYME THERAPEUTICS INC 1.55%

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

Performance, window by window

	Total return		vs the S&P 500		vs the Nasdaq-100
Window	XAR	XBI	XAR	XBI	XAR	XBI
3 months	−15.8%	−3.3%	−19.2 pts	−6.7 pts	−19.5 pts	−7.0 pts
6 months	−14.7%	+18.9%	−29.8 pts	+3.8 pts	−37.9 pts	−4.3 pts
1 year	−6.8%	+45.0%	−24.1 pts	+27.7 pts	−30.4 pts	+21.4 pts
3 years	+98.6%	+114.6%	+12.8 pts	+28.8 pts	−8.7 pts	+7.3 pts
Since launch XAR Sep 2011 · XBI Feb 2006	+961.1%	+890.7%	+189.2 pts	+92.2 pts	−526.2 pts	−1,164.7 pts

Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →

On the same fields

XAR

State Street(R) SPDR(R) S&P(R) Aerospace & Defense ETF · Holds 50 stocks in defense, 38% of its weight in S&P 500 companies

XBI

State Street(R) SPDR(R) S&P(R) Biotech ETF · Holds 165 stocks in biotech, 13% of its weight in S&P 500 companies

Issuer State Street State Street

Theme Defense Biotech

In the S&P 500 37.5% 12.7%

Active share vs the S&P 500 97.7% 98.4%

In the Nasdaq-100 2.6% 8.5%

Holdings 50 165

Top ten, share of the fund 30.1% 16.9%

Expense ratio 0.35% 0.35%

Fee for the differing part 0.36% 0.36%

Total return, 1 year −6.8% +45.0%

vs the S&P 500 −24.1 pts +27.7 pts

vs the Nasdaq-100 −30.4 pts +21.4 pts

Below its high −23.0% −11.1%

Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026 $5.5bn $9.9bn

As of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

XAR in plain words

By weight, 38% 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 30% of the fund across 50 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 the fund returned −6.8% with distributions reinvested against +17.3% for the S&P 500, so a holder was behind by 24.1 pts. It sits 23.0% below its all-time high of Aug 14, 2026.

XBI in plain words

By weight, 13% of XBI'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 17% of the fund across 165 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 the fund returned +45.0% with distributions reinvested against +17.3% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 27.7 pts. It sits 11.1% below its all-time high of Feb 8, 2021.

Questions people ask

Do XAR and XBI hold the same stocks?: By their latest filings, 0% of their books are the same securities at the same weight, which is mostly different names. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.
Which is more different from the S&P 500, XAR or XBI?: XAR has 38% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XBI has 13%, so XBI differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, XAR or XBI?: XAR and XBI both charge 0.35% a year, so neither is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

XAR vs IBB XAR vs AIQ XAR vs AIRR XAR vs BOTZ XBI vs SHLD XBI vs IDEF XBI vs PPA XBI vs ITA

XAR on its own →XBI on its own →How every figure is computed →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

XAR and XBI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗XAR and XBI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗State Street website ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation.

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed.

Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

Cite this page

ETFIQ, XAR against XBI, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/xar-vs-xbi

Open data

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