XBI vs XT: which is really different?

XBI and XT hold 5% of their weight in the same names, and XBI returned +45.0% over the year. State Street(R) SPDR(R) S&P(R) Biotech ETF and iShares Future Exponential Technologies ETF.

XBI costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 20.7 points; XBI is 2.5 times larger.

XBIXT
Expense ratio0.35%0.46%
Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026$9.9bn$4.0bn
Total return, 1 year+45.0%+24.3%
What it tracksBiotechBroad innovation and megatrends
Holdings in common5%
S&P 500, total return, 1 year+17.3%
Against the S&P 500, 1 yearahead by 27.7 ptsahead by 7.1 pts
Below its all-time high11.1%, high on Feb 8, 2021

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 8, 2026.

12.7%
XBI in the S&P 500
65.1%
XT in the S&P 500
+45.0%
XBI total return, 1 year
+24.3%
XT total return, 1 year
XBI · 1 year to Oct 9, 202687% of its weight is outside the S&P 500
87% of its weight is outside the S&P 50013% of XBI's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 87% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.13%87%inof its weight outside the S&P 500active share 98% · top ten 17% of the fund · 165 holdings as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026 · Nasdaq-100: 9% in87% of its weight is outside the S&P 50013% of XBI's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 87% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.13%87%inof its weight outside the S&P 500active share 98% · Nasdaq-100: 9% in

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

XT · 1 year to Oct 9, 202635% of its weight is outside the S&P 500
35% of its weight is outside the S&P 50065% of XT's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 35% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.65%35%of its weight in S&P 500 companiesof its weight outside the S&P 500active share 68% · top ten 36% of the fund · 196 holdings as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026 · Nasdaq-100: 41% in35% of its weight is outside the S&P 50065% of XT's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 35% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 8, 2026.65%35%in the S&P 500outsideactive share 68% · Nasdaq-100: 41% in

65% of XT's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 35% 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?
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, XBI and XT hold 5% 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.

half

5% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding XBI XT
ABBVIE INC 1.65% 2.35%
AMGEN INC 1.58% 1.06%
GILEAD SCIENCES INC 1.53% 0.86%
VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS INC 1.47% 0.62%
REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 1.39% 0.34%
MODERNA INC 2.20% 0.33%
BIOGEN INC 1.57% 0.15%
ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS INC 1.32% 0.13%
BRIDGEBIO PHARMA INC 1.30% 0.05%
CRISPR THERAPEUTICS AG 1.41% 0.02%
Only in XBI
TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP 1.84%
NATERA INC 1.79%
UNITED THERAPEUTICS CORP 1.59%
HALOZYME THERAPEUTICS INC 1.55%
IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC 1.54%
EXELIXIS INC 1.53%
TG THERAPEUTICS INC 1.48%
PROTAGONIST THERAPEUTICS INC 1.46%
Only in XT
TEXAS INSTRUMENT INC 4.30%
TESLA INC 4.14%
MICROSOFT 4.09%
ELI LILLY 3.98%
NVIDIA 3.91%
PALO ALTO NETWORKS 3.68%
ANALOG DEVICES 3.21%
JOHNSON & JOHNSON 2.92%

5% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

Performance, window by window

Total returnvs the S&P 500vs the Nasdaq-100
WindowXBIXTXBIXTXBIXT
3 months−3.3%+3.2%−6.7 pts−0.2 pts−7.0 pts−0.5 pts
6 months+18.9%+20.4%+3.8 pts+5.2 pts−4.3 pts−2.8 pts
1 year+45.0%+24.3%+27.7 pts+7.1 pts+21.4 pts+0.7 pts
3 years+114.6%+76.1%+28.8 pts−9.6 pts+7.3 pts−31.1 pts
Since launch
XBI Feb 2006 · XT Mar 2015
+890.7%+297.6%+92.2 pts−53.3 pts−1,164.7 pts−360.4 pts

Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →

On the same fields

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
XT
iShares Future Exponential Technologies ETF · Holds 196 stocks in broad innovation and megatrends, 65% of its weight in S&P 500 companies
Theme Biotech Broad innovation and megatrends
In the S&P 500 12.7% 65.1%
Active share vs the S&P 500 98.4% 68.0%
In the Nasdaq-100 8.5% 41.1%
Holdings 165 196
Top ten, share of the fund 16.9% 35.7%
Expense ratio 0.35% 0.46%
Fee for the differing part 0.36% 0.68%
Total return, 1 year +45.0% +24.3%
vs the S&P 500 +27.7 pts +7.1 pts
vs the Nasdaq-100 +21.4 pts +0.7 pts
Below its high −11.1% −0.5%
Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026 $9.9bn $4.0bn

As of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

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.

XT in plain words

By weight, 65% of XT's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 68%. The top ten holdings are 36% of the fund across 196 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 the fund returned +24.3% with distributions reinvested against +17.3% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 7.1 pts.

Questions people ask

Do XBI and XT hold the same stocks?
By their latest filings, 5% 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, XBI or XT?
XBI has 13% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XT has 65%, so XBI differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, XBI or XT?
XBI charges 0.35% a year and XT charges 0.46%, so XBI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Other comparisons
Where these figures came from

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

Open data

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