Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
MSTY vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MSTY returned −43.4% to QQQ's +15.2%, and QQQ charges 0.18% to MSTY's 0.99%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.0bn for YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF and $483.0bn for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1.
Pair scorecard
QQQ costs 0.81 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 58.6 points; QQQ is far larger, $483.0bn against $1.0bn.
| Measure | MSTY | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −43.4% | +15.2% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 75.2% | rose 14.6% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 60.3% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 14% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Benchmark: MicroStrategy (MSTR) | Nasdaq-100 Index |
| Against its benchmark, same days | ahead by 5.6 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.99% | 0.18% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $1.0bn | $483.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 96% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Mar 1, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 138 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: MSTY against MSTR, Mar 1, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026; QQQ against QQQM, Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026.
QQQ returned more: +60.3% to +36.1%. QQQ swung less: 20.0% to 61.8%. QQQ fell less at its worst: −21.3% to −76.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | MSTY | QQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +36.1% | +60.3% | QQQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +12.3% | +19.5% | QQQ | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −89.1% | +58.1% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 61.8% | 20.0% | QQQ | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 40.0% | 13.1% | QQQ | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −76.2% | −21.3% | QQQ | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 35.5% | 100.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.2% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.73 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.93 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.42 | 0.77 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.65 | 1.18 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.358 | 0.145 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.16 | 0.91 | QQQ | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | MSTR | QQQM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −2.3% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.23 | −0.58 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −21.9% to +17.3% | −0.4% to +0.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.47 | −0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 27.4% | 0.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 138 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, MSTY and QQQ hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
MSTY and QQQ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
MSTY and QQQ do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. MSTY is measured against MicroStrategy (MSTR) and QQQ follows Nasdaq-100 Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 28, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 MSTY returned −43.4% and QQQ +15.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 58.6 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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MSTY
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MSTY paid 33.4% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 75.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −43.4%. MicroStrategy (MSTR) returned −49.0% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.6 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 60.3%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 14% of the distribution paid Oct 30, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
QQQ
QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.2% with distributions reinvested, against +15.2% for its benchmark, the Nasdaq-100 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 103 positions, with the top ten at 46.7%. It sat 4.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are MSTY and QQQ in the same category?
- MSTY is an option-income ETF and QQQ is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, MSTY or QQQ?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MSTY returned −43.4% and QQQ +15.2%.
- Which is cheaper, MSTY or QQQ?
- QQQ is cheaper, by 0.81 percentage points a year. That is about $81 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, MSTY against QQQ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/msty-vs-qqq
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). MSTY against QQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/msty-vs-qqq
[MSTY against QQQ (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/msty-vs-qqq)
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