Stock Sectors
The 11 stock market sectors are Healthcare, Financial Services, Technology, Industrials, Consumer Cyclical, Real Estate, Basic Materials, Energy, Communication Services, Consumer Defensive and Utilities. Energy has the highest return so far in 2026, +55.6% for its SPDR sector ETF (XLE) through Oct 16, 2026, and Communication Services the lowest, at -5.4%.
Sector returns, dividend yields and the stocks and funds in each sector. You can also browse every stock A to Z.
Returns through Oct 16, 2026. Yields and counts use the latest available records.
Equity sectors: 11
Fund categories: 8
Nearly every stock GNG Research covers belongs to a sector, from the eleven classic equity groups like Technology and Healthcare to fund categories such as Fixed Income and Commodities. A sector groups companies that sell similar products, face the same regulations, and tend to rise and fall together, which makes it the fastest way to narrow thousands of tickers down to a short list worth real attention.
The grouping earns its keep in years like 2022, when Energy gained more than 50% while Technology lost more than a quarter of its value. Defensive groups such as Utilities and Consumer Defensive tend to hold up when rates climb or recession fears spread. Knowing which group a company belongs to tells you a lot about the ride ahead before you read a single filing.
Each sector page lists every company we track in that group with its market cap, dividend yield, P/E ratio and latest price, plus the sector's returns by year, its industries and the ETFs that hold it. Each company links to its full GNG Research analysis, and members can push a whole sector into the Research Terminal for deeper screening.
Sector Returns by Year
Calendar year total returns for the eleven equity sectors since 2010. Leadership rotates constantly, and the top group of one year often lands near the bottom a year or two later. Hover any cell for the exact figure.
| Sector | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic MaterialsXLB | 20.5 | -10.9 | 14.7 | 26.0 | 7.2 | -8.7 | 16.8 | 24.0 | -14.9 | 24.1 | 20.5 | 27.4 | -12.3 | 12.5 | 0.1 | 9.9 | 13.7 |
| Communication ServicesXLC | 31.0 | 26.9 | 16.0 | -37.6 | 52.8 | 34.7 | 23.1 | -5.4 | |||||||||
| Consumer CyclicalXLY | 27.5 | 6.0 | 23.6 | 42.7 | 9.5 | 9.9 | 6.0 | 22.8 | 1.6 | 28.4 | 29.6 | 27.9 | -36.3 | 39.6 | 26.5 | 7.4 | -5.2 |
| Consumer DefensiveXLP | 13.8 | 14.1 | 10.7 | 26.3 | 15.7 | 6.9 | 5.0 | 13.0 | -8.1 | 27.4 | 10.1 | 17.2 | -0.8 | -0.8 | 12.2 | 1.5 | 15.0 |
| EnergyXLE | 21.8 | 2.8 | 5.2 | 26.2 | -8.7 | -21.5 | 28.0 | -0.9 | -18.2 | 11.7 | -32.5 | 53.3 | 64.2 | -0.6 | 5.5 | 7.9 | 55.6 |
| Financial ServicesXLF | 11.9 | -17.1 | 28.4 | 35.5 | 15.1 | -1.7 | 22.4 | 22.0 | -13.0 | 31.9 | -1.7 | 34.8 | -10.6 | 12.0 | 30.5 | 14.9 | 2.6 |
| HealthcareXLV | 3.3 | 12.4 | 17.4 | 41.4 | 25.1 | 6.8 | -2.8 | 21.8 | 6.3 | 20.4 | 13.3 | 26.0 | -2.1 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 14.5 | 15.6 |
| IndustrialsXLI | 27.8 | -1.1 | 14.9 | 40.5 | 10.4 | -4.3 | 20.0 | 24.0 | -13.2 | 29.1 | 11.0 | 21.1 | -5.6 | 18.1 | 17.3 | 19.3 | 9.0 |
| Real EstateXLRE | 2.7 | 10.7 | -2.4 | 28.7 | -2.1 | 46.1 | -26.2 | 12.4 | 5.1 | 2.6 | 7.0 | ||||||
| TechnologyXLK | 11.4 | 2.6 | 15.3 | 26.2 | 17.8 | 5.5 | 15.0 | 34.3 | -1.7 | 49.9 | 43.6 | 34.7 | -27.7 | 56.0 | 21.6 | 24.6 | 27.9 |
| UtilitiesXLU | 5.3 | 19.6 | 1.0 | 13.0 | 28.7 | -4.9 | 16.1 | 12.0 | 3.9 | 25.9 | 0.6 | 17.7 | 1.4 | -7.2 | 23.3 | 16.0 | 0.9 |
| S&P 500SPY | 15.1 | 1.9 | 16.0 | 32.3 | 13.5 | 1.3 | 12.0 | 21.7 | -4.6 | 31.2 | 18.4 | 28.7 | -18.2 | 26.2 | 24.9 | 17.7 | 12.8 |
Calendar-year total returns (%) of the SPDR sector ETF proxies, computed from daily closes with dividends reinvested and splits applied. Communication Services begins in 2019 and Real Estate in 2016, after each fund's inception. 2026 is year to date through Oct 16, 2026.
SPDR Sector ETFs
The State Street Select Sector SPDR ETFs each hold the stocks of one S&P 500 sector. GNG Research uses them as the sector proxies for every return on this page; yields and expense ratios are the figures each fund's page shows.
Forward Dividend Yield by Sector
Dividend yields cluster by sector. Utilities, Energy, and Real Estate names typically pay out a large share of earnings, while Technology companies keep more cash for growth. Bars show the median forward yield of dividend payers in each equity sector, so one giant payer cannot skew its group.
Median forward yields among dividend payers range from 1.28% in Technology to 5.30% in Real Estate.
Sector Growth Since 2010
Small annual gaps compound. This chart tracks a $10,000 investment made at the start of 2010 in each sector through today, with dividends reinvested. Communication Services and Real Estate are left out because their index funds launched after 2010.
From the start of 2010 through Oct 16, 2026, $10,000 grew to $199,029 in Technology (XLK), the most among sectors with a full history, against $92,073 in the S&P 500 (SPY).
Growth of $10,000 using SPDR sector ETF proxies, computed from daily closes with dividends reinvested and splits applied. The final point is year to date through Oct 16, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 11 sectors of the stock market?
The 11 stock market sectors are Healthcare, Financial Services, Technology, Industrials, Consumer Cyclical, Real Estate, Basic Materials, Energy, Communication Services, Consumer Defensive and Utilities. Many index providers call three of them Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Materials.
Which sector has the highest return this year?
Energy: its SPDR sector ETF (XLE) returned +55.6% in 2026 through Oct 16, 2026, the highest of the 11 sectors. Communication Services has the lowest, at -5.4%.
Which sectors pay the highest dividends?
Real Estate (5.30%), Utilities (3.57%) and Communication Services (3.49%) have the highest median forward yields among their dividend payers, and Technology (1.28%) the lowest.
What are SPDR sector ETFs?
The Select Sector SPDR ETFs from State Street each hold the stocks of one S&P 500 sector, such as XLK for technology and XLE for energy. GNG Research uses them as the sector proxies for the returns on this page, each with an expense ratio of 0.08%.
How many stocks are in each sector?
Healthcare has the most, with 918 stocks, and Utilities the fewest, with 123. The All Sectors list on this page shows the count for every sector and fund category.
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