ETF Versus

SPY vs XLY

State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust vs State Street Consumer Discretionary 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
XLY SPDR

State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) is an exchange-traded fund issued by SPDR that provides exposure to us sector - consumer discretionary securities. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.08%. The fund offers a modest dividend yield of 0.79%. Launched in 1998, the fund has a 28-year track record.

AUM: $21.3B ER: 0.08% Yield: 0.79% Since: Dec 16, 1998

Quick Verdict

Both funds have nearly identical expense ratios (0.08% vs 0.09%), so fees are not a differentiator here. Over the past year, SPY has significantly outperformed with a 29.6% return vs 19.8%.

Key Metrics

Metric SPY XLY
Expense Ratio 0.09% 0.08%
Dividend Yield 1.1% 0.8%
Fund Family SPDR SPDR
Category US Large Cap Blend US Sector - Consumer Discretionary

Performance Chart

Indexed to 100 at start (5-year comparison)

70 90 110 130 150 170 2021-04 2022-07 2023-10 2025-01 2026-04
SPY +65.2%
XLY +27.1%

Performance Comparison

Period SPY XLY Difference
1 Month +0.54% -1.36% +1.90%
3 Months -2.19% -9.58% +7.39%
6 Months +2.55% -3.72% +6.27%
YTD -0.47% -4.87% +4.40%
1 Year +29.62% +19.84% +9.78%
3 Years +65.95% +54.44% +11.51%
5 Years +65.18% +27.14% +38.04%

Fee Impact Over Time

Estimated fee cost difference assuming 8% annual returns

Investment Period SPY Fees XLY 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 XLY
Annualized Volatility 17.1% 23.7%
Max Drawdown -25.4% -40.3%
Sharpe Ratio 0.41 0.13

Dividend Comparison

Metric SPY XLY
Annual Dividend (per share) $7.38 $0.89
Dividend Yield 1.09% 0.79%
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%

XLY Top Holdings

NameWeight
Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN24.60%
Tesla, Inc.TSLA17.23%
The Home Depot, Inc.HD5.97%
The TJX Companies, Inc.TJX4.40%
McDonald's CorporationMCD4.37%
Booking Holdings Inc.BKNG3.57%
Lowe's Companies, Inc.LOW3.35%
Starbucks CorporationSBUX2.71%
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc.ORLY1.92%
Marriott International, Inc.MAR1.88%

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose SPY if...

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

Choose SPY if...

you prioritize dividend income and want higher regular distributions from your portfolio.

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