Aerospace & Defense vs the S&P 500 (ITA): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, ITA has underperformed the S&P 500 by 8.3 points. Here is where that puts it in the sector rotation — updated daily.
Where ITA sits on the rotation map
Aerospace & Defense highlighted against the 11 broad S&P 500 sectors. Vertical: 1-month spread vs the S&P 500. Horizontal: the longer, time-shifted window — the methodology explains the math.
ITA vs SPY: head-to-head returns
ITA (aerospace & defense) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means ITA won that window.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Aerospace & Defense (ITA) is losing its lead. It built a 5.4-point advantage over the S&P 500 across the longer, time-shifted window, but over the past month it has slipped 8.3 points behind the market — the Cooling quadrant of the rotation map. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #112 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks — among the market's weakest pockets right now.
On the shorter tape, ITA's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. ITA's relative-strength line has broken below its long-term average — the long-term outperformance trend is no longer intact. Both signals point the same direction here: the market is not rewarding this group on either horizon.
The exposure comes via iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF, whose 49 tracked holdings are led by GE AEROSPACE, RTX CORP and BOEING CO. Weighted by portfolio, the fund's holdings trade at roughly 52.3× earnings and 8.5× sales. The thing to watch from here is whether this is a pause or a handoff: cooling groups sometimes reset and reclaim leadership, but a deepening one-month deficit usually means rotation has moved on.
What's inside ITA
Top 5 of 49 tracked holdings, by portfolio weight.
Aerospace & Defense vs the market — common questions
Is aerospace & defense outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, no: over the past month ITA has underperformed the S&P 500 by 8.3 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is ITA?
ITA is iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF, the fund Zensei uses to measure the aerospace & defense group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
Which stocks are in ITA?
ITA's largest tracked positions are GE AEROSPACE, RTX CORP, BOEING CO, GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP, HOWMET AEROSPACE INC — 49 holdings in total. The full list, with each stock measured against the group, is part of Zensei Premium.
What quadrant is aerospace & defense in right now?
As of the latest daily data, aerospace & defense is in the Cooling quadrant — still ahead over the longer window, but behind the market over the past month. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.
Related sectors
Track aerospace & defense against the whole market
Zensei Edge maps 100+ sectors and themes against the S&P 500 — with the stocks inside each one, rotation history and alerts when leadership changes hands.