ETF Versus

SPY vs XLC

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust vs State Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF

Last updated: 2026-04-10

SPY SPDR

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is an exchange-traded fund issued by SPDR that provides exposure to large-cap U.S. equities across growth and value styles. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.09%. The fund offers a moderate dividend yield of 1.09%. Launched in 1993, the fund has a 33-year track record.

AUM: $678.3B ER: 0.09% Yield: 1.09% Since: Jan 22, 1993
XLC SPDR

State Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLC) is an exchange-traded fund issued by SPDR that provides exposure to us sector - communication securities. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.08%. The fund offers a moderate dividend yield of 1.23%. Launched in 2018, the fund has a 8-year track record.

AUM: $24.6B ER: 0.08% Yield: 1.23% Since: Jun 18, 2018

Quick Verdict

Both funds have nearly identical expense ratios (0.08% vs 0.09%), so fees are not a differentiator here. SPY has edged ahead over the past year (29.6% vs 25.9%).

Key Metrics

Metric SPY XLC
Expense Ratio 0.09% 0.08%
Dividend Yield 1.1% 1.2%
Fund Family SPDR SPDR
Category US Large Cap Blend US Sector - Communication

Performance Chart

Indexed to 100 at start (5-year comparison)

55 78 101 124 147 170 2021-04 2022-07 2023-10 2025-01 2026-04
SPY +65.2%
XLC +48.7%

Performance Comparison

Period SPY XLC Difference
1 Month +0.54% -2.66% +3.20%
3 Months -2.19% -3.11% +0.92%
6 Months +2.55% +0.04% +2.51%
YTD -0.47% -2.57% +2.10%
1 Year +29.62% +25.85% +3.77%
3 Years +65.95% +94.19% -28.24%
5 Years +65.18% +48.66% +16.52%

Fee Impact Over Time

Estimated fee cost difference assuming 8% annual returns

Investment Period SPY Fees XLC Fees You Save
$10,000 10 years $179 $159 $20
$10,000 20 years $771 $686 $85
$10,000 30 years $2,486 $2,212 $273
$50,000 10 years $896 $797 $99
$50,000 30 years $12,428 $11,061 $1,366
$100,000 30 years $24,855 $22,123 $2,732

Risk Metrics

Based on 5 years of daily returns

Metric SPY XLC
Annualized Volatility 17.1% 20.7%
Max Drawdown -25.4% -47.2%
Sharpe Ratio 0.41 0.27

Dividend Comparison

Metric SPY XLC
Annual Dividend (per share) $7.38 $1.40
Dividend Yield 1.09% 1.23%
Distribution Frequency Quarterly Quarterly

Top Holdings

2 of top 9 holdings overlap (22% overlap in top holdings)

SPY Top Holdings

NameWeight
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA7.61%
Apple Inc.AAPL6.54%
Microsoft CorporationMSFT4.78%
Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN3.72%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO2.86%
Alphabet Inc.GOOG2.53%
Meta Platforms, Inc.META2.31%
Tesla, Inc.TSLA1.66%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRK.B1.51%

XLC Top Holdings

NameWeight
Meta Platforms, Inc.META13.83%
Alphabet Inc.GOOG6.65%
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.LYV4.71%
Netflix, Inc.NFLX4.57%
The Walt Disney CompanyDIS4.50%
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.TTWO4.48%
EchoStar CorporationSATS4.47%
Omnicom Group Inc.OMC4.37%
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.WBD4.35%

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose SPY if...

recent performance momentum matters to your strategy. Note that past performance doesn't guarantee future results.

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