Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
QQQ vs QUAL: how they differ
QQQ and QUAL hold 42% of their weight in the same names, and QQQ returned more over the year.
Invesco QQQ Trust and iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, QQQ and QUAL hold 42% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | QQQ | QUAL |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA Corp. | 8.16% | 6.52% |
| Apple Inc. | 7.29% | 6.28% |
| Microsoft Corp. | 5.32% | 5.05% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. | 2.97% | 3.50% |
| Alphabet Inc. | 3.52% | 2.54% |
| Alphabet Inc. | 3.26% | 2.12% |
| Lam Research Corp. | 1.75% | 3.23% |
| Netflix, Inc. | 1.59% | 2.00% |
| Applied Materials, Inc. | 1.57% | 2.45% |
| Costco Wholesale Corp. | 1.86% | 1.31% |
| Walmart Inc. | 2.48% | 1.23% |
| QUALCOMM Inc. | 1.18% | 1.42% |
| Only in QQQ | Only in QUAL |
|---|---|
| Micron Technology, Inc. 4.80% | THE TJX COMPANIES, INC. 3.19% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. 4.62% | VISA INC. 3.09% |
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 3.70% | ELI LILLY AND COMPANY 2.92% |
| Tesla, Inc. 3.46% | CATERPILLAR INC. 2.52% |
| Broadcom Inc. 3.37% | MASTERCARD INCORPORATED 2.30% |
| Intel Corp. 2.52% | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. 2.12% |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. 2.09% | JOHNSON & JOHNSON 1.92% |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. 1.58% | SLB N.V. 1.56% |
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 dated Apr 30, 2026 and May 31, 2026.
| QQQ Invesco QQQ Trust | QUAL iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | Invesco | iShares |
| What it is | Nasdaq-100, book from QQQM | MSCI USA Quality Factor |
| Total return, 1 year | +23.0% | +16.0% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | +5.5 pts | −1.5 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | 0.15% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 96.7% | 98.9% |
| Holdings | 101 | 121 |
QQQ in plain words
QQQ is an index equity fund tracking the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +23.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 101 positions, with the top ten at 47.5%. It sat 4.1% below its high of Jun 2, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
QUAL in plain words
QUAL is an index equity fund tracking the MSCI USA Quality Factor. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +16.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings filed for Apr 30, 2026, 99% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 121 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%. It sat 3.1% below its high of Aug 13, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, QQQ or QUAL?
- In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QQQ returned +23.0% and QUAL returned +16.0%, so QQQ returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, QQQ or QUAL?
- QQQ charges 0.18% a year and QUAL charges 0.15%, so QUAL is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do QQQ and QUAL overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 97% of QQQ and 99% of QUAL by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 42% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
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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.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, QQQ against QUAL, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/QQQ-QUAL Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
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