# How RTX compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: BetterThanSPY research, https://betterthanspy.com/research/rtx
> Data as of October 22, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on RTX alone. It places RTX (RTX Corporation) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where RTX stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: RTX's full trading record, from October 1986 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 22, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** Its aerospace & defense peers split over the past 3 months: LMT (Lockheed Martin) rose 15.4%, while GE (GE Aerospace) fell 13.8%. RTX has trailed the market, rising 0.2% over the past 3 months against 2.5% for the S&P 500.
- **Stock or market?:** RTX held up far better than its industry: it rose 0.2% over the past 3 months while the aerospace & defense ETF ITA (iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF) fell 11.4%. The S&P 500 rose 2.5%. Its aerospace & defense peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: LMT (Lockheed Martin) rose 15.4%, while GE (GE Aerospace) fell 13.8%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** The last two calendar years both went the same way: RTX rose 61.4% in 2025, against 15.6% for the S&P 500 and 16.9% for the Nasdaq 100. RTX lagged its aerospace & defense peers in 2023, then moved up the pack in 2025.
- **Long term:** The past 5 years have been the better stretch: RTX rose 136% against 80.3% for the S&P 500, after trailing over the decade. Over the past decade, RTX returned 319%, ahead of 75% of the stocks worth at least $300 million. The S&P 500 returned 316%.
- **In a crash:** RTX fell harder than the S&P 500 in five of seven sell-offs. The 2022 bear market was the exception: RTX fell 21.9%, less than the S&P 500's 24.5%.
- **Diversification:** RTX is a real diversifier: a correlation of 0.20 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.21 with the total US market, less closely than 85% of stocks worth at least $300 million. RTX moves far less with the S&P 500 than it used to, with a correlation of 0.20 over the past 5 years against 0.81 in the 5 years before.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** MOG-A (Moog) was ahead of RTX in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (32.1% volatility against 24.4%).
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** ESLT (Elbit Systems, aerospace & defense) earned more for the risk it took than RTX over the past 5 years, and its worst fall in 10 years was 35.4%, against 52.0% for RTX.
  - **Whole market:** Few investments have done better on both counts: only 12 of the 3,641 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than RTX with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them WMT (Walmart), TJX (TJX Companies) and TRV (Travelers Companies).

## How much would $10,000 in RTX have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in RTX over the past 29 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of RTX over the same span and RTX's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in RTX at the end of September 1997 would have grown to $288,741 by September 2026, more than the $132,907 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of RTX, and ESLT finished highest, at $1,652,837.

## RTX at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- RTX's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 52.6%, from October 2007 to March 2009. It took 20 months from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 29 full calendar years, RTX's best was 2025, when it returned 61.4%, and its worst was 2008, when it lost 28.4%. It lost money in eight of those years.
- RTX is 13.7% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Industrials (Aerospace & Defense)
- Trading since: October 17, 1986
- Market value: $262B
- Volatility (5 years): 24.4%; Sharpe ratio: 0.83
- Worst decline ever: −52.6%, from October 1, 2007 to March 9, 2009; back at its high by November 4, 2010

| Period | RTX total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +1.9% |
| 3 months | +0.2% |
| 6 months | +8.4% |
| year to date | +5.1% |
| 1 year | +11.0% |
| 3 years | +183% |
| 5 years | +136% |
| 10 years | +319% |

## RTX against the whole market

Where RTX ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does RTX rank among all stocks?

This section ranks RTX on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- On return for the risk taken (the Sharpe ratio), RTX ranks in the top 8% of the 2,897 stocks worth at least $300 million.

| Measure | RTX | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +11.0% | 1,593 of 3,282 (top 49%) |
| 3-year return | +183% | 453 of 3,016 (top 16%) |
| 5-year return | +136% | 503 of 2,897 (top 18%) |
| 10-year return | +319% | 541 of 2,201 (top 25%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 24.4% | 283 of 2,897 (top 10%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.83 | 238 of 2,897 (top 9%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −52.0% | 528 of 2,184 (top 25%) |

### What has beaten RTX on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- Seven stocks and five ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than RTX over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is fewer than 1% of the 3,641 screened. Few investments beat it on both counts.
- Among those with at least half RTX's swings, DXJ has the best return for its risk: 26.6% a year at 19.1% volatility, 22% less than RTX's 24.4%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.34 against 0.83 for RTX.

### Is there a better investment than RTX?

The table below lists investments that beat RTX over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among RTX's popular alternatives, MOG-A was ahead of RTX in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (32.1% volatility against 24.4%).
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, ESLT (aerospace & defense) earned more for the risk it took than RTX over the past 5 years, and its worst fall in 10 years was 35.4%, against 52.0% for RTX.
- Few investments have done better on both counts: only 12 of the 3,641 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than RTX with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them WMT, TJX and TRV.

The 11 strongest of 12 investments that beat RTX over the past 5 years, out of 3,641 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with RTX | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| RTX: RTX Corporation (this page) |  | +18.7% | 24.4% | 0.83 | −52.0% | +319% |  |  |
| [TRV](https://betterthanspy.com/research/trv): The Travelers Companies, Inc. | Property & Casualty Insurance | +22.4% | 22.3% | 1.02 | −46.3% | +360% | 0.46 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [WMT](https://betterthanspy.com/research/wmt): Walmart Inc. | Discount Retail | +21.1% | 22.6% | 0.97 | −25.7% | +521% | 0.14 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | Japan Equity | +26.6% | 19.1% | 1.34 | −39.1% | +415% | 0.15 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [COR](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cor): Cencora, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +23.6% | 22.8% | 1.05 | −32.4% | +403% | 0.44 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [MPLX](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mplx): MPLX Lp | Oil & Gas Midstream | +24.0% | 18.8% | 1.25 | −75.2% | +337% | 0.28 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| SDCI: USCF SummerHaven Dynamic Commodity Strategy No K-1 Fund | Broad Commodities | +21.1% | 18.4% | 1.14 | −45.7% | — | 0.17 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| DBJP: Xtrackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF | Japan Equity | +20.9% | 19.3% | 1.09 | −31.3% | +339% | 0.11 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [TJX](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tjx): The TJX Companies, Inc. | Apparel Retail | +19.8% | 22.3% | 0.93 | −42.5% | +357% | 0.15 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| [KMI](https://betterthanspy.com/research/kmi): Kinder Morgan, Inc. | Oil & Gas Midstream | +20.1% | 22.3% | 0.94 | −55.1% | +159% | 0.32 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| [ETR](https://betterthanspy.com/research/etr): Entergy Corporation | Electric Utilities | +19.8% | 22.4% | 0.92 | −42.0% | +326% | 0.27 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| ATMP: Barclays ETN+ Select MLP ETN | Energy Infrastructure | +21.7% | 21.5% | 1.02 | −70.3% | +174% | 0.30 | Higher return, lower volatility |

## RTX against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against RTX, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do RTX's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- None of the 22 popular alternatives earned more than RTX over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- 15 of the 22 popular alternatives earned less than RTX over the past 5 years while swinging more, the weaker corner of the map.
- Over the past 5 years, RTX returned 18.7% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.5%, with higher volatility (24.4% against 17.2%).

### Has RTX consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares RTX with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- Only one of the 22 popular alternatives, MOG-A, outperformed RTX in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- CW earned more for the risk it took than RTX (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in its worst decline of the past 10 years.
- HWM outperformed RTX over all three long-term periods but in none of the five short-term ones, so RTX has had the better of it lately.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of RTX | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| RTX: RTX Corporation (this page) | +11.0% | +183% | +136% | +319% |  |  | 0.83 |
| MOG-A: Moog Inc. | +68.4% | +211% | +350% | +540% | 3/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | consistent | 1.10 |
| ATI: ATI Inc. | +97.0% | +347% | +913% | +809% | 2/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.29 |
| [HWM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/hwm): Howmet Aerospace Inc. | +1.3% | +348% | +544% | +928% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.31 |
| DRS: Leonardo DRS, Inc. | −13.4% | +83.1% | +236% | +3,198% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.78 |
| CW: Curtiss-Wright Corporation | −11.4% | +139% | +264% | +486% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 1.05 |
| [GE](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ge): GE Aerospace | −0.9% | +251% | +365% | +135% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 1.15 |
| [HEI](https://betterthanspy.com/research/hei): HEICO Corporation | −3.8% | +91.4% | +115% | +788% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.69 |
| [TDG](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tdg): TransDigm Group Incorporated | −13.1% | +61.6% | +112% | +526% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.68 |
| UAL: United Airlines Holdings, Inc. | +6.0% | +188% | +118% | +85.3% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| KTOS: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. | −54.6% | +123% | +70.2% | +523% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.46 |
| AVAV: AeroVironment, Inc. | −66.9% | +0.3% | +29.5% | +416% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.38 |
| [LMT](https://betterthanspy.com/research/lmt): Lockheed Martin Corporation | +24.2% | +43.2% | +80.0% | +226% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.61 |
| [DAL](https://betterthanspy.com/research/dal): Delta Air Lines, Inc. | +33.5% | +156% | +107% | +116% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| [NOC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/noc): Northrop Grumman Corporation | −5.9% | +20.8% | +47.5% | +200% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.43 |
| [GD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/gd): General Dynamics Corporation | +5.6% | +59.4% | +85.7% | +188% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.70 |
| HII: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. | −0.1% | +37.1% | +45.9% | +117% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.40 |
| HXL: Hexcel Corporation | +28.6% | +28.9% | +46.2% | +95.5% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.40 |
| [LHX](https://betterthanspy.com/research/lhx): L3Harris Technologies, Inc. | −10.6% | +52.3% | +14.8% | +236% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.23 |
| AAL: American Airlines Group Inc. | +4.2% | +11.6% | −34.2% | −67.2% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.07 |
| BWXT: BWX Technologies, Inc. | −33.0% | +73.9% | +131% | +265% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.66 |
| TXT: Textron Inc. | −5.4% | +4.4% | +5.1% | +103% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.17 |
| [BA](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ba): The Boeing Company | −13.4% | +3.6% | −11.9% | +48.3% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.11 |

### How did RTX do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 1997, along with where RTX ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, RTX finished in the top quarter in four of 29 years and in the bottom quarter in one. In 2025, it ranked 6 of 23.
- RTX finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 16 of its 29 full calendar years, and ahead of it in each of the last two.
- Among its popular alternatives, TDG came out ahead of RTX most often, in 13 of the 19 years both traded.

| Year | RTX | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +61.4% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +40.8% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | −14.4% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | +20.0% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +23.3% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | −16.7% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +44.1% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −14.5% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +19.3% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +17.3% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How RTX has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were RTX's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- Not every decline was the market's doing: RTX fell 34.9% from May 1999 to March 2000, while the S&P 500 rose 4.7%.
- The slowest recovery came after RTX fell 52.1% from May to September 2001; it did not regain that peak until October 2003, two years later.
- In three of RTX's four worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −52.6% | October 1, 2007 | March 9, 2009 | November 4, 2010 | −54.6% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −52.1% | May 18, 2001 | September 20, 2001 | October 14, 2003 | −23.7% | dot-com bust |
| −52.0% | February 7, 2020 | March 23, 2020 | June 1, 2021 | −32.5% | Covid crash |
| −49.1% | August 14, 1987 | December 4, 1987 | August 24, 1989 | — |  |
| −34.9% | May 11, 1999 | March 9, 2000 | December 5, 2000 | +4.7% |  |

### How did RTX do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far RTX, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- RTX fell further than the S&P 500 in seven of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the Covid crash, when RTX fell 50.5% and the S&P 500 fell 33.7%.
- Among its popular alternatives, LMT held up best, falling less than RTX in nine of the ten crashes they both traded through.

| Crash | Dates | RTX fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −52.1% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −52.0% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | −2.5% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −23.1% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −15.4% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −7.1% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −27.7% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −50.5% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −21.9% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −1.5% | −3.4% |

### How closely does RTX move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- 12 of the 22 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than RTX's 1.02, led by DRS, NOC and HEI.
- DRS took just 4% of the S&P 500's losses, against 91% for RTX, while still keeping 125% of its gains.
- Over the past 10 years, RTX captured 94% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 91% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 0.89. Its share of the market's gains was slightly larger than its share of the losses.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| RTX: RTX Corporation (this page) | 94.0% | 91.0% | 0.89 |
| MOG-A: Moog Inc. | 119% | 101% | 1.20 |
| ATI: ATI Inc. | 141% | 116% | 1.37 |
| [HWM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/hwm): Howmet Aerospace Inc. | 142% | 115% | 1.41 |
| DRS: Leonardo DRS, Inc. | 125% | 4.0% | 0.66 |
| CW: Curtiss-Wright Corporation | 103% | 77.0% | 1.20 |
| [GE](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ge): GE Aerospace | 85.0% | 106% | 1.21 |
| [HEI](https://betterthanspy.com/research/hei): HEICO Corporation | 118% | 85.0% | 1.15 |
| [TDG](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tdg): TransDigm Group Incorporated | 112% | 97.0% | 1.25 |
| UAL: United Airlines Holdings, Inc. | 107% | 158% | 1.41 |
| KTOS: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. | 133% | 135% | 0.98 |
| AVAV: AeroVironment, Inc. | 120% | 114% | 0.90 |
| [LMT](https://betterthanspy.com/research/lmt): Lockheed Martin Corporation | 58.0% | 48.0% | 0.52 |
| [DAL](https://betterthanspy.com/research/dal): Delta Air Lines, Inc. | 107% | 149% | 1.34 |
| [NOC](https://betterthanspy.com/research/noc): Northrop Grumman Corporation | 49.0% | 32.0% | 0.35 |
| [GD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/gd): General Dynamics Corporation | 68.0% | 68.0% | 0.71 |
| HII: Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. | 71.0% | 90.0% | 0.60 |
| HXL: Hexcel Corporation | 94.0% | 135% | 1.27 |
| [LHX](https://betterthanspy.com/research/lhx): L3Harris Technologies, Inc. | 72.0% | 65.0% | 0.70 |
| AAL: American Airlines Group Inc. | 70.0% | 199% | 1.53 |
| BWXT: BWX Technologies, Inc. | 82.0% | 68.0% | 0.87 |
| TXT: Textron Inc. | 103% | 155% | 1.33 |
| [BA](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ba): The Boeing Company | 93.0% | 152% | 1.42 |

### What diversifies RTX?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in RTX into DXJ would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 18% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+19.2% for RTX alone, +21.3% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of RTX over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.39 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- FIX made money in five of the eight calendar years in which RTX lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with RTX | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in RTX's 8 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.39 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 1 of 8 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.15 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 3 of 8 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | 0.38 | +103% | 14.5% | 1.06 | 1 of 8 |
| FDL: First Trust Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index Fund | 0.46 | +97.6% | 14.5% | 1.02 | 3 of 8 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.32 | +83.6% | 13.8% | 0.95 | 3 of 8 |
| [SMH](https://betterthanspy.com/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | -0.06 | +304% | 37.0% | 0.94 | 3 of 8 |
| [XLE](https://betterthanspy.com/research/xle): State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | 0.33 | +178% | 25.5% | 0.94 | 1 of 8 |
| [GLD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.34 | +120% | 19.0% | 0.93 | 4 of 8 |

## Common questions

### What was RTX's worst drawdown?

RTX's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 52.6%, from October 2007 to March 2009. It took 20 months from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were RTX's best and worst years?

Over 29 full calendar years, RTX's best year was 2025, when it returned 61.4%. Its worst was 2008, with a return of -28.4%.

### Is there a better investment than RTX?

Among RTX's popular alternatives, MOG-A was ahead of RTX in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (32.1% volatility against 24.4%). Looking beyond its popular alternatives, ESLT (aerospace & defense) earned more for the risk it took than RTX over the past 5 years, and its worst fall in 10 years was 35.4%, against 52.0% for RTX.

### Is RTX more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. RTX's volatility over the past 5 years was 24.4%, 1.4 times the S&P 500's 17.2%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, RTX's return lands within 24.4% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is RTX's Sharpe ratio?

RTX's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.83, against 0.78 for the S&P 500, so RTX earned more for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is RTX with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, RTX's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.20 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They are only loosely linked, which makes it a real diversifier next to an index fund. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against RTX instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a RTX holding.

### What are the best alternatives to RTX?

Of the 22 popular alternatives we compared, one outperformed RTX in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: MOG-A.

### Did RTX outperform the S&P 500?

RTX finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 16 of 29 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +61.4%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did RTX do in stock market crashes?

RTX fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in three of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in seven. The clearest case was the Covid crash, when RTX fell 50.5% and the S&P 500 fell 33.7%.

### What diversifies RTX?

These had a low correlation with RTX over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.39), DXJ (correlation 0.15) and EMLP (correlation 0.38); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.32), CLS (correlation -0.01) and MCK (correlation 0.28). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

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- [L3Harris Technologies (LHX) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/lhx)
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## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://betterthanspy.com/research/rtx
- All research pages: https://betterthanspy.com/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against RTX live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=RTX