Materials sector vs S&P 500 (XLB): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, XLB has underperformed the S&P 500 by 4.0 points. Here is where that puts it in the sector rotation — updated daily.
Where XLB sits on the rotation map
Materials 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.
XLB vs SPY: head-to-head returns
XLB (materials) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means XLB won that window.
Data as of 2026-07-13 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Materials (XLB) is out of favor: it trails the S&P 500 on both rotation windows — 4.0 points behind over the past month and 8.1 points behind over the longer, time-shifted window. That is the lagging quadrant. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #77 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, XLB's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. XLB'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 Materials Select Sector SPDR, whose 26 tracked holdings are led by LINDE PLC, NEWMONT CORP and CORTEVA INC. Weighted by portfolio, the fund's holdings trade at roughly 33.4× earnings and 3.4× 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 XLB
Top 10 of 26 tracked holdings, by portfolio weight.
Materials vs the market — common questions
Is materials outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, no: over the past month XLB has underperformed the S&P 500 by 4.0 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is XLB?
XLB is Materials Select Sector SPDR, the fund Zensei uses to measure the materials group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
Which stocks are in XLB?
XLB's largest tracked positions are LINDE PLC, NEWMONT CORP, CORTEVA INC, FREEPORT-MCMORAN INC, SHERWIN-WILLIAMS CO — 26 holdings in total. The full list, with each stock measured against the group, is available with a free Zensei account.
What quadrant is materials in right now?
As of the latest daily data, materials 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 materials 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.