Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
QQQ vs QYLD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QQQ returned +15.2% to QYLD's +19.3%, and QQQ charges 0.18% to QYLD's 0.60%.
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Net assets: $483.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1, and $8.5bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF.
Pair scorecard
QQQ costs 0.42 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.1 points; QQQ is far larger, $501.3bn against $8.5bn.
| Measure | QQQ | QYLD |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +15.2% | +19.3% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 14.6% | rose 5.8% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 11.9% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 99% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Nasdaq-100 Index | Benchmark: Nasdaq-100, measured through QQQ |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | 0.60% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026 | $501.3bn | $8.5bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 94% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 96% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 46.7% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 20, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 670 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: QQQ against QQQM, Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026; QYLD against QQQ, Dec 20, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
QQQ returned more: +802.4% to +192.9%. QYLD swung less: 12.3% to 19.5%. QYLD fell less at its worst: −24.5% to −35.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QQQ | QYLD | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +802.4% | +192.9% | QQQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +18.6% | +8.7% | QQQ | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +714.3% | −28.7% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 19.5% | 12.3% | QYLD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 13.0% | 9.2% | QYLD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −35.1% | −24.5% | QYLD | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 100.4% | 37.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.2% | 64.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.55 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.77 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.87 | 0.58 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.31 | 0.77 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.145 | 0.129 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.53 | 0.35 | QQQ | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | QQQM | QQQ | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | −2.3% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.58 | −1.36 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.2% | −5.5% to +1.0% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.10 | −0.94 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 10.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 670 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, QQQ and QYLD hold 94% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
94% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
QQQ and QYLD 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.
QQQ and QYLD do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. QQQ follows Nasdaq-100 Index and QYLD is measured against Nasdaq-100 through QQQ.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 QQQ returned +15.2% and QYLD +19.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.1 points.
- Cost. QQQ charges 0.18% of assets a year and QYLD 0.60%, a gap of 0.42 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
QYLD
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, QYLD paid 12.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 5.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +19.3%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +15.2% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 4.1 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 11.9%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 99% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
Questions people ask
- Are QQQ and QYLD in the same category?
- QQQ is a stock ETF and QYLD is an option-income ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, QQQ or QYLD?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QQQ returned +15.2% and QYLD +19.3%.
- Which is cheaper, QQQ or QYLD?
- QQQ is cheaper, by 0.42 percentage points a year. That is about $42 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, QQQ against QYLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-qyld
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[QQQ against QYLD (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qqq-vs-qyld)
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