Utilities returned 0.8% in a year electricity demand boomed
UTILITIES (XLU) trailed the S&P 500 by 21.6 points over the past year, and the shortfall reads as a verdict on the sector. It is better understood as a timing mismatch, in a year led by assets the fund does not own.
Demand returned. The shares did not.
US retail electricity sales rose 1.55% in total between 2005 and 2020, and fell 0.99% between 2010 and 2020. That plateau has ended. Sales rose 9.15% between 2020 and 2025.2 Datacentre load is named as a major driver, with industrial demand also contributing.
UTILITIES (XLU) did not follow. The fund closed at $43.61 on 7 August 2026, 8.6% below its twelve-month high of $47.73 and near a low of $41.31.1 Its price return over the year was +0.8%. With dividends reinvested it was +3.6%. The S&P 500 returned +22.4% on price, a gap of 21.6 points.
XLU is a fund rather than an operating company. Its name at the SEC is the State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF, and it tracks the S&P 500 companies classified as utilities. One share buys the sector.
The deepest drawdown of the past year was 9.9%, an ordinary correction rather than a repricing. Over three months the fund is down 2.5%, over one month 3.9%. This is not a sector in distress. Its demand story has not yet become an earnings story.
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