Communication Services sector vs S&P 500 (XLC): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, XLC has underperformed the S&P 500 by 1.0 points. Here is where that puts it in the sector rotation — updated daily.
Where XLC sits on the rotation map
Communication Services 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.
XLC vs SPY: head-to-head returns
XLC (communication services) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means XLC won that window.
Data as of 2026-07-13 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Communication Services (XLC) is out of favor: it trails the S&P 500 on both rotation windows — 1.0 point behind over the past month and 10.9 points behind over the longer, time-shifted window. That is the lagging quadrant. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #51 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, XLC's momentum is mixed: the longer intraday trend is still positive, but the recent windows have gone flat. XLC'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 Communication Services Select Sector SPDR, whose 23 tracked holdings are led by META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A, ALPHABET INC CLASS A and ALPHABET INC CLASS C. Weighted by portfolio, the fund's holdings trade at roughly 25.5× earnings and 4.7× sales. The thing to watch from here is the one-month spread: laggards only become interesting when the recent window turns positive first — until then, the market is voting elsewhere.
What's inside XLC
Top 10 of 23 tracked holdings, by portfolio weight.
Communication Services vs the market — common questions
Is communication services outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, no: over the past month XLC has underperformed the S&P 500 by 1.0 point. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is XLC?
XLC is Communication Services Select Sector SPDR, the fund Zensei uses to measure the communication services group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
Which stocks are in XLC?
XLC's largest tracked positions are META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A, ALPHABET INC CLASS A, ALPHABET INC CLASS C, T-MOBILE US INC, TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE INC — 23 holdings in total. The full list, with each stock measured against the group, is available with a free Zensei account.
What quadrant is communication services in right now?
As of the latest daily data, communication services is in the lagging quadrant — trailing the S&P 500 on both windows. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.
Related sectors
Track communication services 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.