Consumer Defensive Sector

Consumer Defensive (also called Consumer Staples) companies sell everyday necessities: food, drinks, household goods and groceries. Demand stays fairly steady in good times and bad, so the sector is usually less volatile.

ShareEmail X LinkedIn Facebook Reddit WhatsApp

Tracked stocks avg

+0.20%

XLP (sector ETF)

$80.53

XLP today

+0.25%

Stocks tracked

5

Consumer Defensive stocks we track

Symbol	Name	Price	Change	% Chg	Volume
WMT	Walmart Inc.	$104.26	0.00	0.00%	—
COST	Costco Wholesale	$920.65	+5.71	+0.62%	—
PG	Procter & Gamble	$144.91	+0.96	+0.67%	—
KO	Coca-Cola Co.	$85.65	-0.45	-0.52%	—
PEP	PepsiCo Inc.	$125.89	+0.29	+0.23%	—

These are the consumer defensive companies in our tracked list, not every company in the sector. The sector ETF is XLP (Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR). Data may be delayed.

What it covers

Packaged food and beverages
Household and personal products
Grocery and big-box retail
Tobacco

What drives it

Steady demand for essentials
Input costs such as commodities and freight
Pricing power and brand loyalty
Competition from store brands

What to watch

Volume versus price growth
Profit margins
Dividend growth and payout ratio
Market share

Main risks

May lag in strong rallies
Rising input costs squeeze margins
Shifts in consumer habits and health trends

Learn more

Dividend Yield and Payout Ratio Explained

5 min read

What Is Diversification? Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

5 min read

Bull vs Bear Markets, Corrections and Crashes

5 min read

Other sectors: Technology · Communication · Consumer Cyclical · Financials · Healthcare · Energy · Industrials · Utilities · Materials · Real Estate. Sector descriptions are general education, not investment advice.