Is XAR a good investment?

State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) is a industrials and materials ETF. As of September 11, 2026, ETF Copilot scores XAR 4.8 out of 10 — highest on Return (8.4), lowest on Quality (0.6). It trades at 33.8 times earnings, against its own median of 24.4. Its ten largest holdings are 32% of the fund.

Updated September 11, 2026

How is XAR rated? ETF Copilot scores State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) 4.8 out of 10

As of September 11, 2026, ETF Copilot scores State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) 4.8 out of 10 overall.

ETF Copilot scores (0–10 scale, higher is better):

Overall: 4.8 / 10
Growth: 7.9 / 10
Valuation: 2.1 / 10
Risk: 1.8 / 10
Quality: 0.6 / 10
Return: 8.4 / 10

What is XAR's expense ratio? 0.35% a year

As of September 11, 2026, XAR charges 0.35% a year, yields 0.83% and holds $5.7B in assets across 46 positions.

State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) — cost, income and size
Measure	XAR
Expense ratio	0.35%
Dividend yield	0.83%
Assets under management	$5.7B
Holdings	46

Expense ratio, dividend yield and assets under management are reported by the fund and refreshed daily. Every other figure on this page is computed by ETF Copilot.

What stands out in XAR's data

U.S. aerospace and defense companies, held through a cap-weighted index.

Profit margins trail most peers — the fund earns less on each dollar of sales than similar funds do.

EBITDA margin of 15.1% sits behind most peers, whose median is 21.3%. A 29% three-year annualized return has run ahead of the broader industrial sector.

A sector bet on defense contractors, built for portfolios that want exposure to government spending.

Why did XAR move this week? It fell 3.1% in the week to September 11, 2026 — Axon Enterprise and Howmet Aerospace drove it

XAR fell 3.1% in the week to September 11, 2026. The holdings that moved it most were Axon Enterprise (−10.9%), Howmet Aerospace (−11.9%) and Karman (−12.9%); Ducommun (+3.7%) pushed the other way.

Is XAR expensive right now? It trades at 33.8 times earnings, against its own median of 24.4

As of September 11, 2026, XAR is more expensive than 89% of its own 114 monthly readings since 2017 — 101 of those months were cheaper than today.

Trailing twelve-month, computed by ETF Copilot from the fund's holdings rather than quoted from a data provider, and rebuilt nightly.

What's inside XAR?

What's inside XAR: Size (Large 34%, Mid 42%, Small 24%); Geography (International 0%, US 100%); Tech 1.6%.

What are XAR's top holdings? The ten largest are 32% of the fund

Raytheon Technologies, VSE, Allegheny Technologies, Archer Aviation, Axon Enterprise, General Dynamics, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Hexcel and Boeing are XAR's largest holdings, in that order.

Less concentrated than 57% of Industrials & Materials ETFs.

Half of XAR's weight sits in its 17 largest positions, and once those weights are taken into account it behaves like 39 equally weighted holdings.

Cite this

ETF Copilot, “State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) scores and holdings analysis”, as of September 11, 2026.
https://etf-copilot.com/etf/xar