Which returned more over the last year, MSTY or SPY?

In the year to Sep 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MSTY returned −50.8% and SPY returned +20.0%, so SPY returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.

Are MSTY and SPY the same kind of fund?

No. MSTY is an option-income ETF and SPY is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 4, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

MSTY vs SPY

Name: ETFIQ comparison of MSTY and SPY
Creator: ETFIQ
License: https://etfiq.com/standards/

YieldMax(R) MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, MSTY and SPY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Largest positions each one holds and the other does not
Only in MSTY	Only in SPY
TREASURY BILL 21.68%	NVIDIA Corp. 7.52%
TREASURY BILL 21.18%	Apple, Inc. 6.59%
TREASURY BILL 20.64%	Microsoft Corp. 4.30%
TREASURY BILL 17.38%	Amazon.com, Inc. 3.62%
TREASURY BILL 15.04%	Alphabet, Inc. 3.25%
TREASURY BILL 4.07%	Broadcom, Inc. 2.77%
Strategy Inc 0.01%	Alphabet, Inc. 2.59%
	Micron Technology, Inc. 2.02%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings as filed for Jan 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.

MSTY and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Sep 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	MSTY YieldMax(R) MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF	SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
Where it sits	Income desk	Core fund
Issuer	YieldMax	State Street
What it is	synthetic covered call, vs MSTR	S&P 500, book from IVV
Total return, 1 year	−50.8%	+20.0%
S&P 500 over the same days	−56.4%	+20.0%
Gap to the S&P 500	+5.7 pts	+0.0 pts
Cash paid, 1 year	35.0%	not an income fund
Expense ratio	not published	not published
Holdings	n/a	504

MSTY in plain words

Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, MSTY paid 35.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 79.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −50.8%. MicroStrategy (MSTR) returned −56.4% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.7 pts. At its price on Sep 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualises to 68.2%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 99% of the distribution paid Sep 4, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterisation rather than a measure of erosion).

SPY in plain words

SPY is a index equity fund tracking S&P 500, book from IVV. Over the year to Sep 4, 2026 it returned +20.0% with distributions reinvested, against +20.0% for the S&P 500 and +25.6% for the Nasdaq-100. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 36.4%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, MSTY or SPY?: In the year to Sep 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MSTY returned −50.8% and SPY returned +20.0%, so SPY returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
Are MSTY and SPY the same kind of fund?: No. MSTY is an option-income ETF and SPY is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Other comparisons

Where to next

Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

MSTY against SPY, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 4, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, MSTY against SPY, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/MSTY-SPY.html Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources