JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) shares were down nearly 20% Thursday morning on dreadful quarterly results but the sell-off didn’t spill over too much into ETFs tracking retail and consumer discretionary stocks.
The sector ETFs were able to sidestep the damage because no one fund has more than 1% in JC Penney.
The retail fund with the largest position in JCP is SDPR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEArca: XRT), which was flat in early trading Thursday. The ETF has just under 1% in the stock.
The consumer discretionary sector has been a standout in recent years as the economy gets back on its feet after the financial crisis.
For example, the retail ETF is trading near all-time highs. XRT has posted a three-year annualized return of 23.3%, compared with 13.4% for SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), according to Morningstar.
SDPR S&P Retail ETF
Full disclosure: Tom Lydon’s clients own SPY.