Utilities ETF (XLU)

Market's real-time pricing of the utility sector — rises when investors expect higher electricity demand and earnings.

Exclude COVID

$41.6

Trend YoY growth is +12.7%, accelerating by 0.5 pp/year over the last 9Y. Deviations have remained below trend for 57 consecutive periods. Latest: -5.8%, 18.5 pp below trend, a 2.3σ deviation. The latest YoY reading is depressed by 4.4 pp due to an tough comparison base from Oct 13.

Level

YoY %

y = 7.8% + 0.5 pp/yr · t

Deviation from trend

Forecast

Projected value by forecast vintage (USD)

Projected value (USD)

Forecast made inMar '26Apr '26May '26Jun '26Jul '26Aug '26Sep '26Oct '26Nov '26Dec '26Jan '27Feb '27Mar '27Apr '27May '27Jun '27Jul '27Aug '27Sep '27Oct '27Nov '27MAPE
Mar '26$45.3$45.4$47.5$48.2$51.0$50.7$53.3$54.9$56.3$53.9$55.1$61.4$59.9$61.7$59.0$61.1$60.3$57.9$54.9$58.4$79.7293%
Apr '26$46.2$48.3$49.2$52.4$52.3$55.2$57.1$58.9$56.6$58.1$65.0$63.6$65.8$63.1$65.7$65.0$62.7$59.6$63.7$91.2399%
May '26$43.8$47.5$50.2$49.8$52.3$53.8$55.2$52.7$53.8$59.9$58.3$60.0$57.3$59.3$58.4$56.0$53.0$56.4$75.2357%
Jun '26$45.0$48.1$47.1$48.9$49.8$50.5$47.7$48.2$53.0$51.1$52.0$49.1$50.3$49.0$46.5$43.5$45.8$55.3298%
Jul '26$44.0$45.4$46.5$46.8$46.8$43.6$43.4$47.1$44.8$44.9$41.8$42.1$40.4$37.7$34.8$36.0$39.5238%
Aug '26$41.9$44.3$43.8$43.0$39.4$38.4$40.8$38.0$37.2$33.8$33.2$30.9$28.0$25.0$24.9$24.3138%
Sep '26$39.4$42.7$41.6$37.7$36.4$38.2$35.3$34.0$30.5$29.4$26.9$23.9$20.8$20.2$18.476%
Oct '26$41.6$41.2$37.3$36.0$37.7$34.7$33.4$29.8$28.7$26.2$23.1$20.0$19.4$17.4
Nov '26$41.2$37.3$36.0$37.7$34.7$33.4$29.8$28.7$26.2$23.1$20.0$19.4$17.4

YoY change forecast

Forecast made inMar '26Apr '26May '26Jun '26Jul '26Aug '26Sep '26Oct '26Nov '26Dec '26Jan '27Feb '27Mar '27Apr '27May '27Jun '27Jul '27Aug '27Sep '27Oct '27Nov '27MAPE
Mar '26+19.4%+19.9%+21.0%+22.2%+23.3%+24.5%+25.6%+26.7%+27.9%+29.0%+30.2%+31.3%+32.3%+33.5%+34.6%+35.8%+36.9%+38.0%+39.2%+40.3%+41.5%293%
Apr '26+21.8%+23.0%+24.8%+26.5%+28.3%+30.1%+31.9%+33.7%+35.4%+37.2%+39.0%+40.6%+42.4%+44.1%+45.9%+47.7%+49.5%+51.3%+53.0%+54.8%399%
May '26+11.5%+20.5%+21.4%+22.4%+23.3%+24.2%+25.2%+26.1%+27.1%+28.0%+28.9%+29.8%+30.7%+31.7%+32.6%+33.6%+34.5%+35.4%+36.4%357%
Jun '26+13.8%+16.2%+15.8%+15.4%+15.0%+14.5%+14.1%+13.7%+13.3%+12.9%+12.5%+12.1%+11.6%+11.2%+10.8%+10.4%+10.0%+9.6%298%
Jul '26+6.3%+11.6%+9.8%+8.0%+6.2%+4.4%+2.5%+0.7%-1.0%-2.8%-4.6%-6.4%-8.2%-10.0%-11.8%-13.6%-15.5%238%
Aug '26+3.3%+4.4%+1.1%-2.4%-5.8%-9.3%-12.8%-16.0%-19.5%-22.8%-26.3%-29.7%-33.2%-36.7%-40.1%-43.6%138%
Sep '26-7.9%-1.4%-5.7%-9.8%-14.0%-18.3%-22.1%-26.3%-30.5%-34.7%-38.8%-43.1%-47.3%-51.4%-55.7%76%
Oct '26-5.8%-6.5%-10.7%-15.1%-19.4%-23.3%-27.7%-31.9%-36.3%-40.5%-44.8%-49.2%-53.4%-57.8%
Nov '26-6.5%-10.7%-15.1%-19.4%-23.3%-27.7%-31.9%-36.3%-40.5%-44.8%-49.2%-53.4%-57.8%

Forecasts use ordinary least-squares linear regression fitted to the YoY change series over a rolling 6M window. Each row shows a vintage — the forecast as it would have appeared at that point in time. Projected values apply the forecasted YoY change to the prior year's level, chaining forward where actuals are unavailable. MAPE measures forecast accuracy against realized values. These are mechanical trend extrapolations, not economic models.