UPWK vs XLY: Correlation
How closely do Upwork Inc. (UPWK) and Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) trade together? Their weekly returns over three years give a correlation of 0.49, which is moderate.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are UPWK and XLY?
Over the past 3 years, UPWK and XLY moved with a correlation of 0.49, which is moderate. Lately the two have drifted apart, with the 1-year correlation at 0.35 versus 0.49 over 3 years. Over 5 years the correlation is 0.46, and the annualized covariance of weekly returns is 490.5 %².
XLY is one of the assets that tracks UPWK most closely: it ranks #3 out of the 12 assets we track against UPWK. Their recent paths diverged sharply: over the last 12 months XLY outperformed by 39.6 percentage points (-39.7% for UPWK against -0.1% for XLY). Risk is not evenly split, since UPWK carries 2.6 times the volatility of the other side.
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
UPWK vs XLY: side by side
| UPWK (Upwork Inc.) | XLY (Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | -39.7% | -0.1% |
| 5-year return | -79.8% | +31.8% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 51.1% | 19.7% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 1.34 | 1.15 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -64.5% | -26.0% |
| Market cap | $1.1B | – |
| P/E (trailing) | 11.2 | – |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 0.78% |
| Expense ratio | – | 0.08% |
| Assets under management | – | $22.5B |
| Sector / category | US Listed | Sector ETF |
XLY is a Consumer Cyclical fund from State Street Investment Management: $22.5B under management, 47 holdings, a 0.08% expense ratio, a 0.78% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | UPWK | XLY |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -69.4% | -36.3% |
| 2023 | +42.4% | +39.6% |
| 2024 | +10.0% | +26.5% |
| 2025 | +21.2% | +7.4% |
| 2026 | -55.0% | -2.6% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are UPWK and XLY good diversifiers for each other?
Yes, to a useful degree: a correlation of 0.49 leaves real independence between the two, which historically damped combined volatility.
FAQ
What is the correlation between UPWK and XLY?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.49 over 3 years, with 0.35 over the last year and 0.46 over 5 years.
Is XLY a good diversifier for UPWK?
Yes, to a useful degree: a correlation of 0.49 leaves real independence between the two, which historically damped combined volatility.
What does a correlation of 0.49 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.49 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/upwk-vs-xly.json
Markdown for the live badge, attribution link included:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/upwk-vs-xly/)
Free with attribution; caching and terms are described in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: UPWK correlations · XLY correlations
