Nutrien Ltd vs Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund — how do they compare? Nutrien Ltd trades at $67.48 (market cap $33.31B), while Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund trades at $49.43 (market cap $7.73B). The key difference: Nutrien Ltd is far larger — about 4.3× Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund's market cap, and Nutrien Ltd pays a 3.15% dividend while Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals — on Pluang, investors hold Nutrien Ltd for 59 Days and Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund for 70 Days on average.
| NTR | XLB | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $33.31B | $7.73B |
Volume | 1,330,729 | 13,681,146 |
Sector | Basic Materials | — |
52-Week High | $83.94 | $53.67 |
52-Week Low | $53.64 | $42.23 |
Typical Hold Time | 59 Days | 70 Days |
Enterprise Value | $45.11B | — |
Dividend Yield | 3.15% | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Nutrien (NTR) trades at $69.87, down 0.14% with bearish technical signals despite recent earnings beats. The company shows improving fundamentals with Q1 2026 EPS beating expectations at $0.51 versus $0.48, though Q2 2026 missed at $2.61. Revenue trends show recovery from $26.0B in 2024 to $26.9B in 2025, with net income margin improving to 8.44%. Recent news highlights mixed sentiment with stock volatility following geopolitical fertilizer developments.
The outlook remains cautiously optimistic with analyst consensus at $76.14 target (8.9% upside) and 60.6% buy ratings. Key opportunities include strong potash demand and cost discipline, while risks involve fertilizer price volatility and competitive pressures from potential Belarus deals. Cash flow trends show consistent operational strength despite negative net flows.
XLB, the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF, trades at $49.27, up 0.59% on the day, but technical indicators signal a bearish trend with moving averages and ADX pointing lower. The ETF's portfolio is heavily concentrated in chemicals (49% of assets), and recent analysis suggests limited upside after a sector rebound, with construction materials moderately overvalued and chemicals showing weak value-quality scores.
Outlook remains cautious due to cyclical pressures and high concentration risk, though long-term infrastructure and manufacturing trends offer support. Investors face headwinds from sector volatility and priced-in recovery, but the ETF provides low-cost exposure to large-cap U.S. materials stocks for those seeking broad sector allocation.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Created in 2018 as a result of the merger between PotashCorp and Agrium, Nutrien is the world's largest fertilizer producer by capacity. Nutrien produces the three main crop nutrients--nitrogen, potash, and phosphate--although its main focus is potash, where it is the global leader in installed capacity with roughly 20% share. The company is also the largest agricultural retailer in the United States, selling fertilizers, crop chemicals, seeds, and services directly to farm customers through its brick-and-mortar stores and online platforms.
Read more on NTR →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 securities of companies from the following industries: chemicals; metals and mining; paper and forest products; containers and packaging; and construction materials. The fund is non-diversified.
Read more on XLB →