꧁༺yYsdl༻꧂ Stock Market Sectors: 11 Official GICS Groups

What Are the 11 Stock Market Sectors?

Key Points

Sector categorization aids comparability for better investment analysis.
Sectors simplify profit evaluation and highlight market trends efficiently.
Sector investing via ETFs diversifies portfolios with specific industry exposure.
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What is a stock market sector?

A stock market sector is a group of stocks that have a lot in common with each other, usually because they are in similar industries. There are 11 different stock market sectors, according to the most commonly used classification system, known as the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).We categorize stocks into sectors to make it easy to compare companies that have similar business models. Sectors also make it easier to compare which stocks are making the most money.

An infographic listing the 11 GICS stock market sectors with accompanying representative icons of each.

Image source: The Motley Fool

What are the sectors?

Investing in stock sectors

At a glance, the 11 GICS stock market sectors are:

1. Energy sector

The energy sector covers companies that do business in the billion casino royal:oil and natural gas industry. It includes oil and gas exploration and production companies, as well as producers of other consumable fuels like coal and ethanol. The energy sector also includes the related businesses that provide equipment, materi🧔als, and services to oil and gas producers. It doesn't include many renewable energy companies which instead are considered utilities.

The largest U.S. stocks in the energy sector are billion casino royal:ExxonMobil (XOM 0.77%) and billion casino royal:Chevron (CVX -0.34%).

2. Materials sector

The materials sector includes companies that provide various goods for use in manufacturing and other applications. You'll find makers of billion casino royal:chemicals, construction materials, and containers and packaging within the materials sector, along with billion casino royal:mining stocks and companies specializing in billion casino royal:making pa🐬per and forest products.

Well-known materials stocks include paint maker Sherwin-Williams (SHW 0.74%) and chemicals manufacturer DuPont (DD -0.17%).

3. Industrials sector

The industrials sector encompasses a wide range of different businesses that generally involve the use of heavy equipment. Transportation stocks such as airlines, billion casino royal:railroads, and logistics companies are found within the industrials sector, as are companies in the billion casino royal:aerospace, defense, billion casino royal:construction, and engineering industries. Companies ma🐲king building products, electrical equipment, and machinery also fall into this sector, as do many conglomerates.

UPS (UPS 0.0%) and Raytheon (RTX -0.33%) are the largest U.S. industrials stocks.

4. Utilities sector

The utilities sector encompasses every different type of utility company you can imagine. Within the sector, you'll find utilities specializing in making billion casino royal:electrical power available to residential and commercial customers, as well as billion casino royal:specialists in natural gas transmission and distribution. Other utilities are responsible for delivering water to customers. Some utility companies engage in more than one of these different subspecialties. In addit🐈ion, independent producers of power and renewable electricity also land in the utilities sector, even though they don't exactly resemble the traditional regulated utility.

Utilities tend to be regional in scope, so you might have heard of Duke Energy (DUK 1.02%) in the Southeast U.S., Consolidated Edison (ED 0.28%) in the Northeast, and American Electric Power (AEP 1.3%) across much of the Ohio Valley and the Southern💯 Plains states.

5. Healthcare sector

The healthcare sector has two primary components. One component includes companies that develop billion casino royal:pharmaceuticals and treatments based on billion casino royal:biotechnology, as well as the analytical tools and supplies needed for the clinical trials that test those treatments. The other encompasses healthcare equipment and services, including surgical supplies, billion casino royal:medical diagnostic tools, and health insurance. billion casino royal:Telemedicine is a particularly interesting p𒊎art of the healthcare sector that falls into the latter category.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH 0.71%) and billion casino royal:Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 0.85%) are the two stocks at the top of the healthcare sector, with a combined market cap of almost $1 trillion🌼 between them.

6. Financials sector

The financials sector includes businesses that are primarily related to handling money. Banks are a key industry group within the sector, but you'll also find billion casino royal:insurance companies, brokerage houses, consumer finance providers, and biꦓllion casino royaꦆl:mortgage-related real estate investment trusts among financials. The financial sector also includes some of the best-known financial technology, or fintech, companies.

billion casino royal:Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 0.58%) (BRK.B 0.61%) and financial giant JPMorgan Chase (JPM 0.3%) are among the best-known s𓄧tocks in the financials sector.

billion casino royal: Fintech

Fintech, short for financial technology, are a variety of software platforms, apps, and hardware solutions that leverage tech to make financial processes easier, more efficient and more profitable.

7. Consumer discretionary sector

The consumer discretionary sector covers goods and services for which consumer demand depends upon consumer financial status. For example, if you make $25,000 per year, you probably buy a different car than someone who makes $25 million per year. The sector includes companies that sell higher-priced items like billion casino royal:automobiles and billion casino royal:luxury goods, as well as billion casino royal:leisure products. You'll find both billion casino royal:brick-and-mortar and e-commerce-based retail companies in this category, al🙈ong with hotel and restaurant stocks.

billion casino royal:Amazon.com (AMZN -0.58%) and McDonald's (MCD 1.19%) are among the biggest stocks in the sector.

8. Consumer staples sector

The consumer staples sector includes goods and services that consumers need, regardless of their current financial condition or the current economic climate. The category includes companies in the food, beverage, and billion casino royal:tobacco industries, as well as household and personal care products. You'll also find billion casino royal:retail companies that special🐷ize in selling staples, such as supermarkets, in this group.

billion casino royal:Coca-Cola (KO 0.05%) and billion casino royal:Procter & Gamble (PG 0.45%) are two of th🎉e most valuable consumer staples stꦜocks in the U.S. market.

9. Information technology sector

Also commonly referred to as simply the "tech sector," the information technology sector covers companies involved in the different categories of technological innovation. Some companies in information technology focus on creating software or providing services related to implementing technological solutions like billion casino royal:cybersecurity, while others are more involved in building the equipment, components, and hardware that make tech possible. Information technology also includes makers of billion casino royal:semiconductors and the equipment u🌞sed to produce semiconductor chips.

billion casino royal:Apple (AAPL 1.22%) and billion casino royal:Microsoft (MSFT 1.75%) have been switching places at the top of the ไlist of large U.S. stocks in the information technology sector.

10. Communication services sector

The communication services sector is among the newest of the GICS sectors and includes a couple of major areas that used to be part of other sectors. billion casino royal:Telecommunication services providers make up one wing of the sector. At the other end are billion casino royal:media and entertainment companies, including both older media like television and radio and interactive media via🔯 the internet and newer forms of communication.

billion casino royal:Social media giant Facebook (billion casino royal:NASDAQ:FB) and billion casino royal:search engine pioneer Alphabet (GOOG 1.13%L) (GOOG 1.13%ಞ) are♔ among the biggest stocks in communication services.

11. Real estate sector

The real estate sector is the newest, having formerly been part of the financial sector. It generally includes two different types of investments related to real estate. Some stocks in the sector are responsible for developing new real estate projects and then managing them by obtaining tenants for various spaces within the project property. In addition, most billion casino royal:real estate investmen🐟t trusts, or REITs 💖(pronounced REETS), which are special tax-favored business entities that operate in various areas of the real estate industry, get cou⛄nted within the real estate sector.

Among the top stocks in the real estate sector, you'll find cellular communications tower specialist American Tower (AMT 2.71%) and major shopping mall owner and operator Simon Property Group (SPG 0.47%).

Sector investing

If you are interested in a certain sector but are not ready to invest in a specific company within that sector, you can still participate in sector investing. Seek out lower-risk investments like billion casino royal:exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and billion casino royal:mutual funds that are specifically tied to a sector. Sector investing plays an increasingly important rol🌟e in the strategies that investors use today.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley royalcartas77.sitepany. billion casino royal:Matt Frankel has positions in Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and Simon Property Group. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, American Tower, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, JPMorgan Chase, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Duke Energy, Johnson & Johnson, RTX, Sherwin-Williams, Simon Property Group, United Parcel Service, and UnitedHealth Group and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $180 calls on American Tower, long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short January 2026 $185 calls on American Tower, and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a billion casino royal:disclosure policy.

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