Biotechnology vs the S&P 500 (XBI): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, XBI has outperformed the S&P 500 by 4.6 points. Here is where that puts it in the sector rotation — updated daily.
Where XBI sits on the rotation map
Biotechnology 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.
XBI vs SPY: head-to-head returns
XBI (biotechnology) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means XBI won that window.
Data as of 2026-08-28 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Biotechnology (XBI) sits in the Outperformers quadrant of the rotation map: it has decisively beaten the S&P 500 by 4.6 points over the past month, on top of a 11.5-point advantage over the longer, time-shifted window. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #33 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, XBI's momentum is mixed: the longer intraday trend is still positive, but the recent windows have gone flat. XBI'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 SPDR S&P Biotech ETF, whose 147 tracked holdings are led by MODERNA INC, TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP and ORUKA THERAPEUTICS INC. Weighted by portfolio, the fund's holdings trade at roughly 51.0× earnings and 1014.7× sales. The thing to watch from here is durability: outperformers that hold their one-month spread while the longer window keeps building tend to stay out front; a fading spread is the early exit signal.
What's inside XBI
Top 5 of 147 tracked holdings, by portfolio weight.
Biotechnology vs the market — common questions
Is biotechnology outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, yes: over the past month XBI has outperformed the S&P 500 by 4.6 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is XBI?
XBI is SPDR S&P Biotech ETF, the fund Zensei uses to measure the biotechnology group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
Which stocks are in XBI?
XBI's largest tracked positions are MODERNA INC, TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP, ORUKA THERAPEUTICS INC, APOGEE THERAPEUTICS INC, KYMERA THERAPEUTICS INC ORDINARY SHARES — 147 holdings in total. The full list, with each stock measured against the group, is part of Zensei Premium.
What quadrant is biotechnology in right now?
As of the latest daily data, biotechnology is in the Outperformers quadrant — outperforming the S&P 500 on both the recent and the longer, time-shifted window. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.
Related sectors
Track biotechnology 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.