Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
MSTY vs XYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MSTY paid 33.4% of its price in cash against XYLD’s 10.6%, though XYLD returned more with it reinvested.
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Net assets: $1.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF, and $3.4bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF.
5.6 pts ahead of MSTR
MSTY over 1 year: paid 33.4%, price −75.2%, total −43.4%, MSTR −49.0%, +5.6 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
MSTR
−49.0%
MSTY
−43.4%
5.6 pts ahead of MSTR
Total return, distributions reinvested
5.6 pts ahead of MSTR
MSTY over 1 year: paid 33.4%, price −75.2%, total −43.4%, MSTR −49.0%, +5.6 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
MSTR
−49.0%
MSTY
−43.4%
5.6 pts ahead of MSTR
33.4% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. MSTY over 1 year: paid 33.4%, price −75.2%, total −43.4%, MSTR −49.0%, +5.6 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
Data to Oct 28, 2026.2.2 pts ahead of SPY
XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
SPY
+13.6%
XYLD
+15.8%
10.6% as cash
2.2 pts ahead of SPY
Total return, distributions reinvested
2.2 pts ahead of SPY
XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
SPY
+13.6%
XYLD
+15.8%
2.2 pts ahead of SPY
10.6% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. XYLD over 1 year: paid 10.6%, price +4.3%, total +15.8%, SPY +13.6%, +2.2 pts. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
Data to Oct 28, 2026.Pair scorecard
XYLD costs 0.39 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 59.2 points; XYLD is 3.1 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | MSTY | XYLD |
|---|---|---|
| Paid and earned | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −43.4% | +15.8% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 75.2% | rose 4.3% |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 14% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment | 93% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| Benchmark | MicroStrategy (MSTR) | S&P 500, measured through SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.99% | 0.60% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026 | $1.1bn | $3.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
MSTY among the 74 income ETFs writing on a single company
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
XYLD among the 164 income ETFs not writing on a single company
A percentile among the 74 income ETFs writing on a single company. XYLD 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 Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Mar 1, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 138 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: MSTY against MSTR, Mar 1, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026; XYLD against SPY, Jul 5, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
XYLD returned slightly more: +37.4% to +36.1%. XYLD swung less: 9.1% to 61.8%. XYLD fell less at its worst: −14.0% to −76.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | MSTY | XYLD | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +36.1% | +37.4% | XYLD (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +12.3% | +12.7% | XYLD (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −89.1% | +2.2% | XYLD | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 61.8% | 9.1% | XYLD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 40.0% | 6.4% | XYLD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −76.2% | −14.0% | XYLD | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 35.5% | 51.3% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.2% | 70.9% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.73 | 0.66 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.93 | 0.78 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.42 | 0.89 | XYLD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.65 | 1.26 | XYLD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.358 | 0.103 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.16 | 0.91 | XYLD | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | MSTR | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −2.3% a year | −1.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.23 | −1.00 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −21.9% to +17.3% | −4.5% to +1.5% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.47 | −0.75 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 27.4% | 7.8% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 138 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, MSTY and XYLD hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
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
| Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | MSTY | XYLD | MSTY | XYLD | MSTY | XYLD |
| 3 months | +42.2% | +5.0% | 25.1% | 2.3% | −13.3 pts | −1.1 pts |
| 6 months | −9.7% | +9.2% | 28.9% | 5.2% | −1.4 pts | +0.1 pts |
| 1 year | −43.4% | +15.8% | 33.4% | 10.6% | +5.6 pts | +2.2 pts |
| 3 years | – | +53.3% | – | 35.1% | – | −41.7 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: MSTY Feb 2024 · XYLD Jun 2013 | +69.4% | +195.1% | 224.6% | 114.5% | −34.2 pts | −320.2 pts |
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MSTY and XYLD are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Income paid. MSTY paid 33.4% and XYLD 10.6% (cash paid over 1 year, as a share of its price at the start), a gap of 22.8 points.
- What each is measured against. MSTY is measured against MicroStrategy (MSTR) and XYLD against S&P 500 through SPY.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 28, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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MSTY
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MSTY paid 33.4% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 75.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −43.4%. MicroStrategy (MSTR) returned −49.0% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.6 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 60.3%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 14% of the distribution paid Oct 30, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
XYLD
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XYLD paid 10.6% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 4.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +15.8%. S&P 500 (SPY) returned +13.6% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 2.2 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 9.1%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 93% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice).
Questions people ask
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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, MSTY against XYLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/msty-vs-xyld
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). MSTY against XYLD. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/income/msty-vs-xyld
[MSTY against XYLD (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/income/msty-vs-xyld)
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