Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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Income ETFs

APLY vs SPYI: Dividend Yield & Total Return

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, APLY paid 28.6% of its price in cash against SPYI’s 11.9%, and returned more with it reinvested.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $112m for YieldMax AAPL Option Income Strategy ETF and $12.7bn for NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF.

At a glance
28.6%
APLY cash paid, 1 year
11.9%
SPYI cash paid, 1 year
+18.2%
APLY total return, 1 year
+13.6%
SPYI total return, 1 year
APLY · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 10.1 pts behind AAPL
APLY
+18.2%
AAPL
+28.3%

10.1 pts behind AAPL

APLY over 1 year: paid 28.6%, price −14.2%, total +18.2%, AAPL +28.3%, −10.1 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

AAPL

+28.3%

APLY

+18.2%

28.6% of it arrived as cash

10.1 pts behind AAPL

Total return, distributions reinvested

10.1 pts behind AAPL

APLY over 1 year: paid 28.6%, price −14.2%, total +18.2%, AAPL +28.3%, −10.1 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

AAPL

+28.3%

APLY

+18.2%

28.6% cash

10.1 pts behind AAPL

28.6% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. APLY over 1 year: paid 28.6%, price −14.2%, total +18.2%, AAPL +28.3%, −10.1 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Data to Oct 28, 2026.
SPYI · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 About even with SPY
SPYI
+13.6%
SPY
+13.6%

About even with SPY

SPYI over 1 year: paid 11.9%, price +0.8%, total +13.6%, SPY +13.6%, 0.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

SPY

+13.6%

SPYI

+13.6%

11.9% of it arrived as cash

about even with SPY

Total return, distributions reinvested

About even with SPY

SPYI over 1 year: paid 11.9%, price +0.8%, total +13.6%, SPY +13.6%, 0.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

SPY

+13.6%

SPYI

+13.6%

about even with SPY

11.9% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. SPYI over 1 year: paid 11.9%, price +0.8%, total +13.6%, SPY +13.6%, 0.0 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Data to Oct 28, 2026.

Pair scorecard

SPYI costs 0.36 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.6 points; SPYI is far larger, $12.7bn against $112m.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

APLY vs SPYI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureAPLYSPYI
Paid and earned
Total return, 1 year+18.2%+13.6%
Price change, 1 yearfell 14.2%rose 0.8%
Return of capital, issuer estimate99% of the Oct 23, 2026 payment
Against its benchmark
BenchmarkApple (AAPL)S&P 500, measured through SPY
Cost and size
Expense ratio1.04%0.68%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026$112m$12.7bn
Holdings
Holdings in common0%
ETFIQ Distribution Coverage Score · APLY scores higher How much of what it paid out did its total return cover?

APLY among the 74 income ETFs writing on a single company

IQ Income Score84.5APLY69.2SPYI

How much of its payouts the fund's total return covered, ranked against 74 income ETFs writing on a single company and 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company. 100 is best. How it is computed

APLY 84.5
0.7, the lowest in this set 99.3, the highest

SPYI among the 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company

SPYI 69.2
0.3, the lowest in this set 99.7, the highest

A percentile among the 74 income ETFs writing on a single company. SPYI is a percentile among the 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company, a different set, so the two marks are not on one scale. One year only, and a ratio of two published numbers: it says nothing about where a distribution came from. All income ETFs ranked by it →

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 28, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 182 weekly returns
APLY SPYI
Return
Total return edge SPYI (slight) +61.3% +66.8%
Annualized edge SPYI (slight) +14.6% +15.7%
Price return edge SPYI −41.2% +9.3%
Risk
Volatility edge SPYI 21.0% 11.2%
Max drawdown edge SPYI −24.1% −14.8%
Downside capture 91.8% 80.6%
Beta 0.78 0.78
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe edge SPYI 0.54 0.95
Sortino edge SPYI 0.73 1.42
Treynor 0.145 0.123
Calmar edge SPYI 0.61 1.06
Against the benchmark
Alpha −4.1% a year −0.6% a year
Alpha t-stat −1.45 −0.53
Information ratio −1.09 −0.87
Tracking error 7.8% 4.0%

Each against its own benchmark: APLY against AAPL, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026; SPYI against SPY, Sep 9, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

SPYI returned slightly more: +66.8% to +61.3%. SPYI swung less: 11.2% to 21.0%. SPYI fell less at its worst: −14.8% to −24.1%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured
Open ↓
Risk and return: APLY vs SPYI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
MeasureAPLYSPYIEdgeHow it is measured
Return
Total return+61.3%+66.8%SPYI (slight)Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized+14.6%+15.7%SPYI (slight)Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return−41.2%+9.3%SPYIPrice change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility21.0%11.2%SPYISpread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation15.5%7.5%SPYILike volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown−24.1%−14.8%SPYIDeepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture66.1%68.0%Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture91.8%80.6%Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta0.780.78Not an edgeHow far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared0.940.96Not an edgeShare of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe0.540.95SPYIReturn above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino0.731.42SPYIReturn above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor0.1450.123Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar0.611.06SPYIAnnualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
BenchmarkAAPLSPYThe ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha−4.1% a year−0.6% a yearNot significantYearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat−1.45−0.53Not an edgeHow sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range−9.7% to +1.5%−2.8% to +1.6%Includes zeroThe 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio−1.09−0.87Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error7.8%4.0%Not an edgeHow far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 182 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

0%

By the books each fund has filed, APLY and SPYI hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 28, 2026.

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first APLY SPYI
Only in one fund ↓
Only in APLY
United States Treasury Note/Bond 3.375% 09/15/2027 26.10%
United States Treasury Note/Bond 2.375% 05/15/2027 13.93%
AAPL 12/18/2026 310.01 C 11.68%
AAPL US 10/30/26 C352.5 0.03%
AAPL US 10/30/26 C355 0.02%
AAPL US 10/30/26 C350 -0.12%
AAPL US 10/30/26 C347.5 -0.13%
AAPL 12/18/2026 310.01 P -0.86%
Only in SPYI
NVIDIA Corp 7.82%
Apple Inc 7.50%
Microsoft Corp 5.89%
Amazon.com Inc 3.74%
Alphabet Inc 2.83%
Broadcom Inc 2.50%
Alphabet Inc 2.28%
Meta Platforms Inc 1.99%
Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

APLY YieldMax AAPL Option Income Strategy ETF · Synthetic covered call on AAPL, paying weekly SPYI NEOS S&P 500 High Income ETF · Option income on SPY, paying monthly
Issuer YieldMax NEOS
Strategy synthetic covered call option income
Benchmark Apple (AAPL) S&P 500 (SPY)
Pays weekly monthly
Payout rate, annualized 20.9% 11.4%
Expense ratio 1.04% 0.68%
Cash paid, 1 year 28.6% 11.9%
Price change, 1 year −14.2% +0.8%
Total return, 1 year +18.2% +13.6%
Benchmark return, 1 year +28.3% +13.6%
Ahead or behind −10.1 pts 0.0 pts
Return of capital, latest estimate not published 99%
Age 3.5 years 4.2 years
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $112m $12.7bn

As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price. Payout rate: the latest payment, annualized, over today’s price.

Window by window

Window by window: APLY vs SPYI: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Total returnCash paidAgainst the benchmark
WindowAPLYSPYIAPLYSPYIAPLYSPYI
3 months0.0%+6.4%6.7%3.1%−1.8 pts+0.3 pts
6 months+18.3%+8.7%17.5%6.1%−9.2 pts−0.4 pts
1 year+18.2%+13.6%28.6%11.9%−10.1 pts0.0 pts
3 years+63.0%+70.2%73.1%41.0%−44.1 pts−24.8 pts
Since launchNot the same days: APLY Apr 2023 · SPYI Aug 2022+62.0%+79.8%76.2%51.3%−47.9 pts−25.4 pts

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Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-86FFC864E2

APLY and SPYI are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

  1. Income paid. APLY paid 28.6% and SPYI 11.9% (cash paid over 1 year, as a share of its price at the start), a gap of 16.7 points.
  2. What each is measured against. APLY is measured against Apple (AAPL) and SPYI against S&P 500 through SPY.
  3. Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 28, 2026).

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund
APLY

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, APLY paid 28.6% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 14.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +18.2%. Apple (AAPL) returned +28.3% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 10.1 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 20.9%, paid weekly.

SPYI

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPYI paid 11.9% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 0.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +13.6%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +13.6% over the same days, so a holder was about even. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 11.4%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 99% of the distribution paid Oct 23, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.

Questions people ask

Which paid more, APLY or SPYI?
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, APLY paid 28.6% of its starting price in cash and SPYI paid 11.9%, 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 SPYI?
With every distribution reinvested, APLY returned +18.2% and SPYI +13.6% over the year to Oct 28, 2026.
Which is cheaper, APLY or SPYI?
APLY charges 1.04% a year and SPYI charges 0.68%, so SPYI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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Sources and dates

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

It is a place in a set, not a rating or a recommendation.

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Every number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

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ETFIQ, APLY against SPYI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/aply-vs-spyi

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