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Cooling#78 of 115 by 1M spread

Health Care Providers vs the S&P 500 (IHF): is it outperforming?

Over the past month, IHF has underperformed the S&P 500 by 3.4 points. Here is where that puts it in the sector rotation — updated daily.

1M spread vs SPY
−3.4 pts
Quadrant
Cooling
Momentum
Weakening
RS health
Broken
Holdings P/E
48.2×

Where IHF sits on the rotation map

Health Care Providers 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.

IHF vs SPY: head-to-head returns

IHF (health care providers) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means IHF won that window.

Window
IHF
SPY
Spread
1 week+1.5%+1.1%+0.4 pts
2 weeks+0.3%−0.2%+0.5 pts
1 month+1.0%+4.3%−3.4 pts
3 months+13.2%+2.4%+10.8 pts
6 months+24.6%+13.0%+11.6 pts
1 year+23.6%+20.6%+3.0 pts

Data as of 2026-08-27 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure

The read

Health Care Providers (IHF) is losing its lead. It built a 14.0-point advantage over the S&P 500 across the longer, time-shifted window, but over the past month it has slipped 3.4 points behind the market — the Cooling quadrant of the rotation map. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #78 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.

On the shorter tape, IHF's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. IHF'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 iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF, whose 59 tracked holdings are led by UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC, CVS HEALTH CORP and ELEVANCE HEALTH INC. Weighted by portfolio, the fund's holdings trade at roughly 48.2× earnings and 2.4× 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 IHF

Top 5 of 59 tracked holdings, by portfolio weight.

Holding
Weight
1M
UNHUNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC
20.2%−5.4%
CVSCVS HEALTH CORP
13.2%−13.2%
ELVELEVANCE HEALTH INC
7.2%+5.5%
VEEVVEEVA SYSTEMS INC CLASS A
5.5%+45.1%
HCAHCA HEALTHCARE INC
4.6%+7.6%
54 more holdings — each measured against the sector, with momentum and relative strengthUnlock with Premium

Health Care Providers vs the market — common questions

Is health care providers outperforming the S&P 500?

Right now, no: over the past month IHF has underperformed the S&P 500 by 3.4 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.

What is IHF?

IHF is iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF, the fund Zensei uses to measure the health care providers group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).

Which stocks are in IHF?

IHF's largest tracked positions are UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC, CVS HEALTH CORP, ELEVANCE HEALTH INC, VEEVA SYSTEMS INC CLASS A, HCA HEALTHCARE INC — 59 holdings in total. The full list, with each stock measured against the group, is part of Zensei Premium.

What quadrant is health care providers in right now?

As of the latest daily data, health care providers 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 health care providers 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.