SHY vs BIL Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
SHY and BIL are both ultra-low-risk US Treasury ETFs for capital preservation, but at different maturities. BIL holds 1–3 month T-bills with near-zero duration — true cash equivalent. SHY holds 1–3 year Treasury bonds with slightly more duration — minimal but real interest rate sensitivity. In high-rate environments, both yield attractively. BIL is for cash parking; SHY is for slightly longer safe fixed income with marginally higher yield.
SHY vs BIL is short-term Treasury bonds with 1.9-year duration for slightly higher yield (SHY) versus money market-equivalent Treasury bills with near-zero duration for pure cash preservation (BIL) — BIL for cash parking with zero principal risk; SHY for the next step up in yield with minimal but real duration exposure.
BIL holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. BIL has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+3.02% vs +1.45% for SHY).
- prefer slightly longer 1–3 year Treasury bonds for marginally higher yield than T-bills while maintaining very low duration risk
- value SHY's established iShares ETF structure for institutional bond portfolio short-end allocation
- want short-term safe fixed income as a defensive allocation with enough duration to outperform T-bills in falling rate environments
- are comfortable with the small duration risk (1.9 years) that causes minor price fluctuations during Fed rate cycles
- prefer true cash-equivalent Treasury bill exposure with essentially zero principal risk regardless of interest rate changes
- value BIL as a tactical cash parking vehicle earning money market yields while maintaining complete flexibility to redeploy quickly
- want US Treasury money market equivalent in an ETF form that can be held in brokerage accounts alongside equity portfolios
- are comfortable with yield declining rapidly when the Fed cuts rates — BIL income tracks the overnight rate closely
| Metric | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|
| ETF scorei | 24.5 | 24.5 |
| Latest closei | $81.50 | $91.42 |
| 1M returni | +0.52% | -0.02% |
| 3M returni | -0.19% | +0.30% |
| 6M returni | +0.21% | +1.20% |
| 1Y returni | +1.45% | +3.02% |
The ETF score weights long-term returns and risk-adjusted performance most heavily, but still rewards low expense ratios, larger fund size, and broader diversification — so it can favor low-cost, broad, mega-cap funds over smaller thematic or actively-managed funds even when the latter have delivered stronger returns.
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.45K (+4.5%) started 2025-11-04 | $10.63K (+6.3%) started 2025-11-04 |
| 5Y ago | $12.79K (+27.9%) started 2021-11-05 | $14.49K (+44.9%) started 2021-11-05 |
| 10Y ago | $14.79K (+47.9%) started 2016-11-07 | $16.1K (+61.0%) started 2016-11-07 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratioi | 0.15% | 0.14% |
| Total assets (AUM)i | $27.44B | $48.51B |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.61% | 3.66% |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 0.05 | 0.00 |
| 52-week change | 1.45% | 3.02% |
| Metric | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y returni | +1.45% | +3.02% |
| 6M returni | +0.21% | +1.20% |
| 3M returni | -0.19% | +0.30% |
| 1M returni | +0.52% | -0.02% |
| 1Y Sharpe ratio | -2.15 | -3.23 |
| Betai | 0.05 | 0.00 |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.61% | 3.66% |
| 5Y CAGR | +1.84% | +3.61% |
Over the past year, SHY and BIL have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.20), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +1.45% | +3.02% |
| CAGRi | +1.45% | +3.03% | |
| Volatilityi | 1.41% | 0.47% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -2.15 | -3.23 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -2.65 | -3.27 | |
| Max drawdowni | 0.96% | 0.32% | |
| Current drawdowni | 0.41% | 0.31% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 0.25% | 0.01% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 0.35% | 0.05% | |
| Max daily dropi | 0.30% | 0.32% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 0.48% | 0.26% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +9.52% | +19.39% |
| CAGRi | +1.84% | +3.61% | |
| Volatilityi | 2.03% | 0.32% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -1.31 | -2.94 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -1.80 | -3.42 | |
| Max drawdowni | 5.39% | 0.32% | |
| Current drawdowni | 0.41% | 0.31% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 1.38% | 0.01% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 2.09% | 0.03% | |
| Max daily dropi | 0.51% | 0.32% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 1.26% | 0.26% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +17.80% | +25.17% |
| CAGRi | +1.65% | +2.27% | |
| Volatilityi | 1.59% | 0.29% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -1.79 | -7.86 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -2.44 | -7.72 | |
| Max drawdowni | 5.71% | 0.32% | |
| Current drawdowni | 0.41% | 0.31% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 0.90% | 0.03% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 1.64% | 0.06% | |
| Max daily dropi | 0.51% | 0.32% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 1.26% | 0.26% |
| Category | SHY | BIL |
|---|---|---|
| Fund name | iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF | State Street SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF |
| Type | ETF | ETF |
| Expense ratioi | 0.15% | 0.14% |
| Total assets (AUM)i | $27.44B | $48.51B |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.61% | 3.66% |
- Extremely low interest rate risk (1.9-year duration) — modest rate changes cause minimal price changes vs long-duration bonds
- US Treasury credit quality — zero credit risk, only duration risk which is minimal in the 1–3 year range
- Actively traded with tight bid-ask spreads — easy to deploy and redeploy capital as market conditions change
- Near-zero duration — virtually no interest rate risk; BIL price is essentially stable regardless of rate changes
- Money market yield equivalent — BIL provides Treasury bill yields matching the short end of the federal funds rate
- Liquidity is exceptional — T-bills are the most liquid securities in the world, traded in massive volumes daily
- 0.15% expense ratio vs BIL's 0.14% — minimal difference but BIL is slightly cheaper for the shortest end of Treasury market
- Duration risk, though minimal, does exist — a rapid Fed rate hike cycle (like 2022) can create small but real negative returns briefly
- Yields track the Fed funds rate lag — in a rapidly rising rate environment, SHY may temporarily underperform money market rates
- BIL yields decline rapidly when the Fed cuts rates — in low rate environments, BIL returns near zero (as they did 2008–2022)
- No capital appreciation potential — BIL is purely income, not a return-generating investment beyond the current T-bill yield
- 0.14% expense ratio reduces the net yield by 14 basis points — in near-zero rate environments, this eats a significant portion of total yield
Compare more than two at a time
This page is a fixed writeup on SHY and BIL. Our comparison engine is the interactive version: load up to five tickers, switch timeframes, and get the correlation, drawdown, and overlap analysis that a static page can't show.
Add three more names beside SHY and BIL, mixing stocks and ETFs in the same table — useful when the real question is which of a whole peer group to own.
AI score, forward P/E, analyst target upside, operating margin, and revenue growth are scored head-to-head, with a running tally of which ticker leads on how many metrics.
Volatility, Sharpe and Sortino ratios, maximum, current, and average drawdown, Ulcer Index, and worst single-day and single-week drops across every timeframe.
Pairwise daily-return correlation for every combination, so you can see whether two holdings actually diversify each other or just move together.
A scatter plot of forward P/E against return on equity, plus drawdown and 30-day rolling volatility charts, to separate what is cheap from what is merely beaten down.
For ETFs, a top-holdings comparison that exposes hidden overlap between funds. Every comparison exports to CSV for your own spreadsheet work.
Two comparisons a week are free without an account. A 14-day trial removes the limit and adds AI price forecasts, stock rankings, saved watchlists, and the intrinsic value calculator — no credit card required.
Want deeper AI forecasts?
This comparison page is public and free forever. Subscribers can unlock saved watchlists, full AI rankings, detailed forecasts, and interactive analysis tools.