Pharmaceutical vs the S&P 500 (PPH): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, PPH has underperformed the S&P 500 by 3.8 points. Here is where that puts it in the sector rotation — updated daily.
Where PPH sits on the rotation map
Pharmaceutical 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.
PPH vs SPY: head-to-head returns
PPH (pharmaceutical) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means PPH won that window.
Data as of 2026-08-28 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Pharmaceutical (PPH) is losing its lead. It built a 10.9-point advantage over the S&P 500 across the longer, time-shifted window, but over the past month it has slipped 3.8 points behind the market — the Cooling quadrant of the rotation map. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #79 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, PPH's momentum is mixed: the longer intraday trend is still positive, but the recent windows have gone flat. PPH's relative-strength line is holding around its moving averages — the trend is intact but no longer extending. The longer trend remains healthier than the recent tape suggests — the kind of divergence worth rechecking in a week.
The exposure comes via VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF, whose 24 tracked holdings are led by ELI LILLY AND CO, NOVARTIS AG ADR and MERCK & CO INC. Weighted by portfolio, the fund's holdings trade at roughly 41.5× earnings and 5.6× 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 PPH
Top 5 of 24 tracked holdings, by portfolio weight.
Pharmaceutical vs the market — common questions
Is pharmaceutical outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, no: over the past month PPH has underperformed the S&P 500 by 3.8 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is PPH?
PPH is VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF, the fund Zensei uses to measure the pharmaceutical group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
Which stocks are in PPH?
PPH's largest tracked positions are ELI LILLY AND CO, NOVARTIS AG ADR, MERCK & CO INC, NOVO NORDISK AS ADR, BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB CO — 24 holdings in total. The full list, with each stock measured against the group, is part of Zensei Premium.
What quadrant is pharmaceutical in right now?
As of the latest daily data, pharmaceutical 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 pharmaceutical 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.