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Data as of .

APLY vs RYLD: which paid, and which earned it?

Over the year APLY paid 32.4% of its price in cash against RYLD’s 12.3%, and returned more with it reinvested.

YieldMax(R) AAPL Option Income Strategy ETF and Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF, side by side, income ETFs on ETFIQ.

32.4%APLY cash paid, 1 year
12.3%RYLD cash paid, 1 year
+26.4%APLY total return, 1 year
+18.1%RYLD total return, 1 year

ETFIQ Return Stability Score: RYLD scores higher

Was the payout funded by returns, or by your own capital?

APLY 45.9RYLD 65.79.1, the lowest in this set97.6, the highest

A percentile among the 61 income ETFs writing on a single company. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All income ETFs ranked by it · How it is computed

APLY18.6 pts behind AAPL · 1 year to Sep 11, 2026
AAPL+45.0%APLY+26.4%32.4% of it arrived as cash18.6 pts behind AAPLTotal return, distributions reinvestedAAPL+45.0%APLY+26.4%32.4% cash18.6 pts behind AAPL
RYLD3.1 pts behind IWM · 1 year to Sep 11, 2026
IWM+21.2%RYLD+18.1%12.3% as cash3.1 pts behind IWMTotal return, distributions reinvestedIWM+21.2%RYLD+18.1%3.1 pts behind IWM

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, APLY and RYLD 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 APLYOnly in RYLD
TREASURY BILL 27.23%GLOBAL X RUSSELL 2000 ETF 99.96%
TREASURY BILL 19.97%CASH 0.04%
TREASURY BILL 19.80%
TREASURY BILL 19.47%
TREASURY BILL 13.52%

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 Sep 11, 2026.

Performance, window by window

APLY and RYLD over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ.
WindowTotal returnCash paidAgainst the benchmark
APLYRYLDAPLYRYLDAPLYRYLD
3 months+8.2%+3.9%8.3%3.1%−6.1 pts+5.1 pts
6 months+21.6%+13.1%18.2%6.3%−11.4 pts−4.5 pts
1 year+26.4%+18.1%32.4%12.3%−18.6 pts−3.1 pts
3 years+52.2%+30.9%69.8%32.7%−38.8 pts−31.7 pts
Since launch+55.8%+51.9%74.3%67.2%−47.0 pts−51.8 pts
Open the live comparison on ETFIQ
APLY and RYLD on the same fields, as of Sep 11, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
APLY
YieldMax(R) AAPL Option Income Strategy ETF
Synthetic covered call on AAPL, paying weekly
RYLD
Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF
Covered call on IWM, paying monthly
IssuerYieldMaxGlobal X
Strategysynthetic covered callcovered call
BenchmarkApple (AAPL)Russell 2000 (IWM)
Paysweeklymonthly
Payout rate, annualized19.8%12.4%
Expense ratio1.04%0.60%
Cash paid, 1 year32.4%12.3%
Price change, 1 year−9.6%+4.7%
Total return, 1 year+26.4%+18.1%
Benchmark return, 1 year+45.0%+21.2%
Ahead or behind−18.6 pts−3.1 pts
Return of capital, latest estimate84%100%
Age1242 days2699 days

APLY in plain words

Over the year to Sep 11, 2026, APLY paid 32.4% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 9.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +26.4%. Apple (AAPL) returned +45.0% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 18.6 pts. At its price on Sep 11, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 19.8%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 84% of the distribution paid Sep 11, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterization rather than a measure of erosion).

RYLD in plain words

Over the year to Sep 11, 2026, RYLD paid 12.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.7%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +18.1%. Russell 2000 (IWM) returned +21.2% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 3.1 pts. At its price on Sep 11, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 12.4%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Aug 27, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterization rather than a measure of erosion).

Questions people ask

Which paid more, APLY or RYLD?
Over the year to Sep 11, 2026, APLY paid 32.4% of its starting price in cash and RYLD paid 12.3%, so APLY paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
Which returned more once distributions are counted, APLY or RYLD?
With every distribution reinvested, APLY returned +26.4% and RYLD returned +18.1% over the year to Sep 11, 2026, so APLY returned more.
Which is cheaper, APLY or RYLD?
APLY charges 1.04% a year and RYLD charges 0.60%, so RYLD is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

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.

APLY against RYLD, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 11, 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, APLY against RYLD, data as of Sep 11, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/aply-vs-ryld Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

How every figure is computed · Standards and sources