Sector Spotlight: Energy Flows Surge as Industrials Outperform

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Weekly Channel Summary

The Sector & Industry ETF channel concluded the week of February 20, 2026, with a total of 267 ETFs managed by 55 unique brands, representing a massive $931 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM). The channel demonstrated resilient investor interest, gathering $1.54 billion in net new money over the past five days. This weekly performance bolsters a strong 2026 trend, bringing Year-to-Date (YTD) flows to $19.75 billion and pushing the one-year rolling flow total to $30.93 billion.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

Broad-based Industrial ETFs were the clear performance winners this week, posting a robust Week-to-Date (WTD) return of 2.69%. Comm Services also showed strength with a 2.09% gain. Conversely, the Consumer Staples category served as the primary laggard, declining 1.15% over the same period. Despite the weekly dip, Consumer Staples maintains a healthy YTD return of 12.97%, while Energy continues to lead all sectors on a YTD basis with a staggering 21.61% gain.

Category Performance Snapshot

Category WTD 1 Month 3 Month 6 Month YTD 1 Year
Industrial 2.69% 6.11% 24.01% 23.63% 15.63% 40.23%
Comm Services 2.09% 2.59% 7.38% 8.67% -0.94% 13.83%
Energy 1.71% 14.92% 24.12% 33.79% 21.61% 24.24%
Financials 1.06% 0.05% 9.02% 5.71% 0.44% 11.08%
Information Technology 0.82% 1.33% 12.84% 20.79% 4.01% 27.79%
Consumer Discretionary 0.82% -0.17% 9.88% 4.11% 1.56% 6.70%
Health Care 0.50% 0.72% 5.44% 17.66% 1.74% 14.10%
Real Estate 0.16% 4.86% 10.15% 8.72% 8.04% 10.31%
Materials -0.25% 8.98% 32.53% 26.04% 19.18% 30.44%
Utilities -0.42% 7.80% 7.00% 9.75% 8.76% 19.17%
Consumer Staples -1.15% 6.86% 14.47% 5.35% 12.97% 8.58%

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance

The BOAT (SonicShares Global Shipping ETF) was the standout individual performer this week, surging 6.63%. In contrast, defensive volatility and tech-heavy software funds struggled, with DVXP (WEBs Consumer Staples XLP Defined Volatility ETF) and IGV (iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF) dropping 2.89% and 2.42%, respectively.

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
BOAT SonicShares Global Shipping ETF 6.63%
WDEF WisdomTree Europe Defense Fund 5.36%
WDAF WisdomTree Asia Defense Fund 4.94%
PXJ Invesco Oil & Gas Services ETF 4.41%
PBEU Portfolio Building Block European Banks Index ETF 4.40%
Bottom Performers
DVXP WEBs Consumer Staples XLP Defined Volatility ETF -2.89%
IGV iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF -2.42%
GXPS Global X PureCap MSCI Consumer Staples ETF -2.23%
DVDN Kingsbarn Dividend Opportunity ETF -2.04%
FSTA Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF -1.85%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

Total net flows for the Sector & Industry channel hit $1.54 billion this week. The Energy category led the charge, securing $963 million in new assets for its $61.8 billion composite. Industrial ETFs also saw significant traction with $941 million in weekly inflows. On the sell side, Financials faced a difficult week, experiencing the largest outflows at $1.07 billion.

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM 5 Day 30 Day 90 Day YTD 1 Year
Energy 32 $61.8B $963M $4,639M $6,203M $6,528M ($1,033M)
Industrial 28 $82.7B $941M $4,010M $8,321M $6,035M $12,540M
Real Estate 52 $88.3B $355M $280M $2,810M ($74M) $4,627M
Information Technology 33 $348.3B $331M $3,249M $3,680M $4,691M $11,384M
Consumer Staples 13 $30.0B $309M ($20M) $362M $697M ($128M)
Materials 10 $13.2B $304M $1,218M $1,453M $1,472M $827M
Utilities 11 $39.1B $144M ($1,211M) ($507M) ($1,303M) $4,939M
Comm Services 7 $34.7B $3M ($648M) $216M ($692M) $2,070M
Consumer Discretionary 15 $33.4B ($67M) ($942M) ($1,006M) ($1,899M) ($3,669M)
Health Care 32 $99.7B ($672M) ($399M) $2,368M $1,858M $2,460M
Financials 34 $100.0B ($1,074M) ($1,347M) $1,444M $2,441M ($3,087M)

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow

Capital flowed heavily into core sector products this week, led by XLE (Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund) with $713 million and XLI (Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund) with $603 million. On the outflow side, broad financial and biotech exposures were hit hardest, as XLF (Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund) and XBI (SPDR S&P Biotech ETF) saw redemptions of $969 million and $670 million, respectively.

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
XLE Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund $713M
XLI Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund $603M
PBPH Portfolio Building Block World Pharma and Biotech Index ETF $430M
PBOG Portfolio Building Block Integrated Oil and Gas and Exploration Index ETF $319M
XLP Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund $288M
Outflows
XLF Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ($969M)
XBI SPDR S&P Biotech ETF ($670M)
IXJ iShares Global Healthcare ETF ($394M)
EUFN iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF ($391M)
IXC iShares Global Energy ETF ($351M)

Issuer League Table Update

State Street’s SPDR brand maintains its leadership in the sector space with a 41.53% market share, followed by Vanguard at 24.66%. SPDR was the most successful brand this week in terms of gathering capital, bringing in $1.43 billion. Meanwhile, iShares experienced the largest outflows among the top-tier issuers, with $702 million exiting its products over the last five days.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM AUM Market Share
SPDR 28 $386.72B 41.53%
Vanguard 12 $229.69B 24.66%
iShares 49 $150.06B 16.11%
VanEck 11 $50.93B 5.47%
Fidelity 12 $34.06B 3.66%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Brand 5-Day Flow
Inflows
SPDR $1,426M
Portfolio Building Block $1,031M
Dimensional $31M
Outflows
iShares ($702M)
VanEck ($212M)
First Trust ($60M)

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Disclosures

This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. All investments, including ETFs, involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Investors should consider their investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.

This analysis was developed by the team at ETF Action. We leverage advanced AI tools to assist in the drafting and refinement of our content, based on our expert prompts, direction, and final review.