State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF
$49.72+0.28 (+0.57%)
- 0.08%
- $7.8B
- +15.9%
- 1.75%
- 11.5M sh
- $49.41
- low $42.03high $54.19
The ETF.net XLB Grade
A
Score 81 out of 100
- 1 of 14
Score 81 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A95 out of 100Rank 1 of 14Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A83 out of 100Rank 1 of 4Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.B62 out of 100Rank 3 of 14Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A99 out of 100Rank 1 of 14Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.C43 out of 100Rank 11 of 14Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A81 out of 100Rank 2 of 14
Our read on XLB
AThe original materials play. A 1998-vintage slice of the S&P 500's chemical, mining, packaging and building-materials names, run at eight basis points and traded in size all day long.
The fund seeks to track, before expenses, the price and yield performance of the Materials Select Sector Index.
Why people hold it
- Charges 0.08% a year against a peer-group median of 0.38%, and nothing in the cohort undercuts it (FMAT matches).
- Trading since December 1998 as one of the original Select Sector SPDRs, with a multi-billion-dollar asset base behind it.sec.gov
- Very actively traded for a sector fund, which is the whole point if you use it for tactical tilts rather than buy-and-forget.
- Clean mandate: chemicals, metals and mining, paper and forest products, containers and packaging, construction materials. No thematic drift.ssga.com
Worth knowing
- Around 26 stocks, and index rules let one name reach 25% at a quarter-end measurement. A couple of chemical giants carry outsized weight.sec.gov
- The universe is the S&P 500 only. Smaller miners and specialty producers sit outside the net, which is the water VAW and XME fish in.ssga.com
- One sector, tied to commodity prices and building demand, so it can travel a very different path from the broad market. Distributions come quarterly.ssga.com
XLB Holdings
- Stocks
- 26
- 60%
- LIN
Sectors
- Materials82.9%
- Consumer Discretionary17.1%
Geography
- United States77.91%
- United Kingdom15.46%
- Ireland3.55%
- Switzerland3.08%
Developed 100% · Emerging 0%
XLB Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
XLB$11,588
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | XLB |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +10.4% |
| 1 month | −2.5% |
| 3 months | −2.4% |
| 1 year | +15.9% |
| 3 years | +10.3% |
| 5 years | +6.1% |
| 10 years | +10.0% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | XLB |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +10.4% | |
| 2025 | +9.9% | |
| 2024 | +0.1% | |
| 2023 | +12.5% | |
| 2022 | −12.3% | |
| 2021 | +27.4% | |
| 2020 | +20.5% |
XLB in the news
XLB Dividends
- 1.75%
- $0.86
- $0.23 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
XLB Risk
- 16.2%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.36
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −24.7%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.82
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
XLB Cost
0.08%
XLB0.08%
- The middle half of Materials (Broad) funds
- Median 0.37%
No Materials (Broad) fund charges less.
Other funds in Materials (Broad)
- BFMATFidelity MSCI Materials Index ETFExpense ratio 0.08%1 year return +12.6%
- BVAWVanguard Materials ETFExpense ratio 0.09%1 year return +12.9%
- BXMEState Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETFExpense ratio 0.35%1 year return +4.3%
- BMXIiShares Global Materials ETFExpense ratio 0.37%1 year return +23.0%
- BIYMiShares U.S. Basic Materials ETFExpense ratio 0.37%1 year return +26.8%