Data as of .
IQQQ vs XYLD: which paid, and which earned it?
Over the year XYLD paid 11.0% of its price in cash against IQQQ’s 6.5% and the two finished level on total return.
ETFIQ Return Stability Score: XYLD scores higher
Was the payout funded by returns, or by your own capital?
A percentile among the 173 income ETFs writing on an index or proxy. 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
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, IQQQ and XYLD hold 43% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | IQQQ | XYLD |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA Corp. | 7.54% | 8.24% |
| Apple, Inc. | 6.74% | 7.55% |
| Microsoft Corp. | 4.92% | 5.61% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. | 4.27% | 3.83% |
| Broadcom, Inc. | 3.11% | 2.62% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. | 2.74% | 2.26% |
| Micron Technology, Inc. | 4.44% | 1.77% |
| Tesla, Inc. | 3.20% | 1.58% |
| Intel Corp. | 2.33% | 0.83% |
| Walmart, Inc. | 2.30% | 0.73% |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. | 1.93% | 0.66% |
| Costco Wholesale Corp. | 1.72% | 0.61% |
| Only in IQQQ | Only in XYLD |
|---|---|
| ProShares GENIUS Money Market ETF 7.60% | ALPHABET INC-CL A 3.13% |
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 3.41% | ALPHABET INC-CL C 2.49% |
| Alphabet, Inc. 3.25% | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC-CL B 1.46% |
| Alphabet, Inc. 3.01% | JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 1.43% |
| Palantir Technologies, Inc. 1.46% | ELI LILLY & CO 1.42% |
| Seagate Technology Holdings plc 0.78% | ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 1.41% |
| AppLovin Corp. 0.76% | EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 1.03% |
| Crowdstrike Holdings, Inc. 0.75% | JOHNSON & JOHNSON 1.00% |
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 May 31, 2026 and Sep 18, 2026.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IQQQ | XYLD | IQQQ | XYLD | IQQQ | XYLD | |
| 3 months | −3.1% | +4.5% | 1.8% | 2.6% | −0.6 pts | +2.3 pts |
| 6 months | +19.1% | +12.4% | 4.2% | 5.6% | −5.1 pts | −5.6 pts |
| 1 year | +17.7% | +17.9% | 6.5% | 11.0% | −4.1 pts | +1.4 pts |
| 3 years | not published | +44.5% | not published | 32.5% | not published | −33.9 pts |
| Since launch | +51.5% | +191.5% | 24.4% | 112.9% | −13.0 pts | −315.3 pts |
| IQQQ ProShares Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF Option income on QQQ, paying monthly | XYLD Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | ProShares | Global X |
| Strategy | option income | covered call |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| Pays | monthly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 5.7% | 8.9% |
| Expense ratio | 0.97% | 0.60% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 6.5% | 11.0% |
| Price change, 1 year | +10.8% | +5.9% |
| Total return, 1 year | +17.7% | +17.9% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +21.8% | +16.6% |
| Ahead or behind | −4.1 pts | +1.4 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | not published | 93% |
| Age | 912 days | 4834 days |
| Net assets | $405m | $3.4bn |
IQQQ in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, IQQQ paid 6.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 10.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.7%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +21.8% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 4.1 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 5.7%, paid monthly.
XYLD in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, XYLD paid 11.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 5.9%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +17.9%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +16.6% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 1.4 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.9%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 93% 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, IQQQ or XYLD?
- Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, IQQQ paid 6.5% of its starting price in cash and XYLD paid 11.0%, so XYLD paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
- Which returned more once distributions are counted, IQQQ or XYLD?
- With every distribution reinvested, IQQQ returned +17.7% and XYLD returned +17.9% over the year to Sep 18, 2026, so XYLD returned more.
- Which is cheaper, IQQQ or XYLD?
- IQQQ charges 0.97% a year and XYLD charges 0.60%, so XYLD 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.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, IQQQ against XYLD, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/iqqq-vs-xyld Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.