Data as of . Every figure is the income desk's own, on published data.
MSTY vs YMAX
YieldMax(R) MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF and YieldMax(R) Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs, side by side on the income desk.
Open the live comparison on ETFIQ| MSTY YieldMax(R) MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF | YMAX YieldMax(R) Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | YieldMax | YieldMax |
| Strategy | synthetic covered call | synthetic covered call |
| Benchmark | MicroStrategy (MSTR) | S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy |
| Pays | weekly | weekly |
| Payout rate, annualised | 68.2% | 40.6% |
| Expense ratio | not published | 1.33% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 35.0% | 40.0% |
| Price change, 1 year | −79.0% | −38.7% |
| Total return, 1 year | −50.8% | +3.5% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | −56.4% | +20.0% |
| Ahead or behind | +5.7 pts | −16.5 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | 99% | 43% |
| Age | 925 days | 961 days |
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).
YMAX in plain words
Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, YMAX paid 40.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 38.7%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +3.5%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +20.0% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 16.5 pts. At its price on Sep 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualises to 40.6%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 43% of the distribution paid Sep 3, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterisation rather than a measure of erosion).
Questions people ask
- Which paid more, MSTY or YMAX?
- Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, MSTY paid 35.0% of its starting price in cash and YMAX paid 40.0%, so YMAX paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
- Which returned more once distributions are counted, MSTY or YMAX?
- With every distribution reinvested, MSTY returned −50.8% and YMAX returned +3.5% over the year to Sep 4, 2026, so YMAX returned more.
Other comparisons
Cite this page. ETFIQ, MSTY against YMAX, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/MSTY-YMAX.html Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
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