Northrop Grumman Corporation vs Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund — how do they compare? Northrop Grumman Corporation trades at $483 (market cap $68.83B), while Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund trades at $83.2 (market cap $13.50B). The key difference: Northrop Grumman Corporation is far larger — about 5.1× Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund's market cap, and Northrop Grumman Corporation pays a 2.04% dividend while Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals — on Pluang, investors hold Northrop Grumman Corporation for 81 Days and Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund for 72 Days on average.
| NOC | XLP | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $68.83B | $13.50B |
Volume | 1,081,989 | 14,599,953 |
Sector | Industrials | — |
52-Week High | $768.02 | $90.00 |
52-Week Low | $473.46 | $75.61 |
Typical Hold Time | 81 Days | 72 Days |
Enterprise Value | $82.81B | — |
Dividend Yield | 2.04% | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Northrop Grumman (NOC) trades at $473.46, down 2.0% on the day, reflecting a bearish technical signal amid recent contract loss news. The stock exhibits strong fundamentals with a P/E of 15.05, net income margin of 10.48%, and consistent earnings beats in recent quarters. Revenue growth is steady, supported by a record backlog, though the loss of the $20 billion Navy F/A-XX contract to Boeing introduces competitive pressure.
The outlook remains supported by robust defense budgets and key programs like the B-21 bomber, but investor sentiment is cautious near-term. Analyst consensus is bullish with a $600.62 price target, though technical indicators suggest potential near-term weakness. Risks include contract dependencies and macroeconomic shifts in defense spending.
XLP trades at $81.70, showing slight weakness with a 0.09% decline amid bearish technical signals. The ETF maintains strong analyst support with a 100% buy rating from 2 analysts, though technical indicators show moving averages and overall signals are bearish. Recent news highlights XLP's defensive characteristics and competitive expense ratio advantage over peers.
The consumer staples ETF offers defensive exposure during market volatility, supported by positive sector performance in 2026. Key risks include interest rate sensitivity and potential consumer spending slowdowns. Analyst consensus remains bullish despite technical headwinds, positioning XLP as a core defensive holding.
Trailing returns across standard periods
What Pluang investors did over the last 30 days
Latest headlines on both assets
Northrop Grumman is a defense contractor that is diversified across short-cycle and long-cycle businesses. The firm's segments include aeronautics, mission systems, defense services, and space systems. The company's aerospace segment creates the fuselage for the massive F-35 program and produces various piloted and autonomous flight systems. Mission systems creates a variety of sensors and processors for defense hardware. The defense systems segment is a long-range missile manufacturer. Finally, the company's space systems segment produces various space structures, sensors, and satellites.
Read more on NOC →In seeking to track the performance of the index, the fund employs a replication strategy. It generally invests substantially all, but at least 95%, of its total assets in the securities comprising the index. The index includes companies that have been identified as Consumer Staples companies by the GICS®. It is non-diversified.
Read more on XLP →