Rising Stars, Falling Trends: July's Industry ETF Winners And Losers

As July comes to an end, it’s time to take a look at the best- and worst-performing industry ETFs for the month.

Among the largest ETFs that represent major U.S. stock indices, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY returned 3.1% in July, marking its fifth consecutive month of gains. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA had similar monthly performance, but the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ outperformed by 3.8%. The strongest performer, though, was the iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM, which increased by 4.9%.

Which industries have performed significantly better than the overall market? Which ones, on the other hand, had a particularly rough month despite the broader risk-on period?

5 Top Performing Industry ETFs In July

5) Semiconductors – VanEck Semiconductors ETF SMH
– Total return month-to-date: 5%
– Total return year-to-date: 58.8%
– Top holdings: NVIDIA Corp. NVDA (20%), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company TSM (10.74%), Broadcom Inc. (5.64%) AVGO
– Monthly stock contributors: Nvidia (2.8 percentage points), Lam Research Corp. LRCX (0.6pp), Intel Corp INTC (0.5pp)

4) Agriculture – VanEck Agribusiness ETF MOO
– Total return month-to-date: 7.8%
– Total return year-to-date: 3.1%
– Top holdings: Zoetis Inc. ZTS (8.6%), Deere & Company DE (8.33%)
– Monthly stock contributors: Zoetis Inc. (1pp); Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ADM (0.9pp);

3) Oil & Gas – SPDR Oil & Gas Explor. & Prod. ETF XOP
– Total return month-to-date: 10.1%
– Total return year-to-date: 11%
– Top holdings: Antero Resources Corp. AR (2.6%), SM Energy Company SM (2.5%)
– Monthly stock contributors: Ovintiv Inc. OVV (0.6pp); APA Corp. APA (0.5pp)

2) Oil services – VanEck Oil Services OIH
– Total return month-to-date: 18.9%
– Total return year-to-date: 18.4%
– Top holdings: Schlumberger Ltd. SLB (19.6%); Halliburton Company HAL (11%).
– Monthly stock contributors: Schlumberger Ltd. (4pp); Halliburton Company (2.2pp)

1) Regional Banks – SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF KRE
– Total return month-to-date: 19.8%
– Total return year-to-date: -16.2%
– Top holdings: Western Alliance Bancorp. WAL (2.4%), Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. PNFP (2.3%).
– Monthly stock contributors: Western Alliance Bancorp. (0.85pp); ZIONS Bancorporation ZION (0.8pp)

Read now: Oil Prices Hit $80, Sparking 5-Week Winning Streak: 5 Must-Watch Oil ETFs To Ride The Wave

Chart: Industry ETFs Gainers In July 2023

5 Worst Performing Industry ETFs In July

5) Water Resources – Invesco Water Resources ETF PHO
– Total return month-to-date: 2.9%
– Total return year-to-date: 12.6%
– Top holdings: Danaher Corp. DHR (8.1%), Ecolab Inc. ECL (8%), Ferguson Plc FERG (8%).
– Monthly stock draggers: Walmont Industries Inc. VMI (-0.3pp); Mueller Industries Inc. MLI (-0.1pp).

4) Biotech – iShares Biotechnology ETF IBB
– Total return month-to-date: 2.1%
– Total return year-to-date: down by 0.3%
– Top holdings: Amgen Inc. AMGN (8.5%), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. VRTX (8.5%)
– Monthly stock draggers: Apellis Pharmaceuticals APLS (-0.7pp); Biogen Inc. BIIB (-0.3pp).

3) Real Estate – Vanguard Real Estate ETF VNQ
– Total return month-to-date: 2%
– Total return year-to-date: 3.3%
– Top holdings: Prologis Inc. PLD (7.6%), American Tower Corp. AMT (6%).
– Monthly stock draggers: CoStar Group Inc. CSGP (-0.2pp), Crown Castle Inc. CCI (-0.2pp)

2) Airlines – U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS
– Total return month-to-date: down by 0.4%
– Total return year-to-date: 25.9%
– Top holdings: Delta Airlines Inc. DAL (10.8%), American Airlines Group Inc. AAL (9.8%).
– Monthly stock draggers: American Airlines Group Inc. (-0.5pp), Southwest Airlines Co. LUV (-0.4pp)

1) Solar – Invesco Solar ETF TAN
– Total return month-to-date: down by 3.3%
– Total return year-to-date: down by 4.4%
– Top holdings: First Solar Inc. FSLR (11.1%), Enphase Energy Inc. ENPH (9.1%)
– Monthly stock draggers: SolarEdge Technologies Inc. SEDG (-0.7pp), SMA Solar Technology AG SMTGF (-0.6pp).