Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
QLDY vs QYLD: Dividend Yield & Total Return
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, QLDY paid 35.3% of its price in cash against QYLD’s 12.3%, though QYLD returned more with it reinvested.
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Net assets: $53m on Nov 3, 2026 for Defiance Nasdaq 100 LightningSpread Income ETF, and $8.5bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF.
3.2 pts behind QQQ
QLDY over 1 year: paid 35.3%, price −27.2%, total +9.1%, QQQ +12.3%, −3.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
QQQ
+12.3%
QLDY
+9.1%
35.3% of it arrived as cash
3.2 pts behind QQQ
Total return, distributions reinvested
3.2 pts behind QQQ
QLDY over 1 year: paid 35.3%, price −27.2%, total +9.1%, QQQ +12.3%, −3.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
QQQ
+12.3%
QLDY
+9.1%
35.3% cash
3.2 pts behind QQQ
35.3% of it arrived as cash. Total return, distributions reinvested. QLDY over 1 year: paid 35.3%, price −27.2%, total +9.1%, QQQ +12.3%, −3.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
QYLD over 1 year: paid 12.3%, price +3.3%, total +16.5%, QQQ +12.3%, +4.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
QQQ
+12.3%
QYLD
+16.5%
12.3% of it arrived as cash
4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
Total return, distributions reinvested
4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
QYLD over 1 year: paid 12.3%, price +3.3%, total +16.5%, QQQ +12.3%, +4.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
QQQ
+12.3%
QYLD
+16.5%
12.3% as cash
4.2 pts ahead of QQQ
12.3% of it arrived as cash. Both charts share one scale, with zero at the line. QYLD over 1 year: paid 12.3%, price +3.3%, total +16.5%, QQQ +12.3%, +4.2 pts. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
QYLD costs 0.44 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.4 points; QYLD is far larger, $8.5bn against $58m.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | QLDY | QYLD |
|---|---|---|
| Paid and earned | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +9.1% | +16.5% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 27.2% | rose 3.3% |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 0% of the Nov 2, 2026 payment | 99% of the Sep 24, 2026 payment |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100, measured through QQQ | Nasdaq-100, measured through QQQ |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 1.04% | 0.60% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026 | $58m | $8.5bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
How much of its payouts the fund's total return covered, ranked against 167 income ETFs not writing on a single company. 100 is best. How it is computed
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 →
Risk and return
Sep 26, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026 · 57 weekly returns · each against QQQFrom Sep 2025 to Oct 2026, QYLD returned more: +20.4% to +13.0%. QYLD swung less: 9.2% to 21.4%. QYLD fell less at its worst: −3.9% to −13.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | QLDY | QYLD | QQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +13.0% | +20.4% | QYLD | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +11.8% | +18.4% | QYLD | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | −27.2% | +5.7% | QYLD | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 21.4% | 9.2% | QYLD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 14.3% | 6.0% | QYLD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −13.1% | −3.9% | QYLD | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 116.7% | 43.6% | 100.0% | QLDY | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 109.3% | 50.2% | 100.0% | QYLD | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 1.13 | 0.42 | 1.00 | QYLD lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.98 | 0.73 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.45 | 1.47 | QYLD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.68 | 2.25 | QYLD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.085 | 0.324 | 0.118 | QYLD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.90 | 4.71 | QYLD | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | QQQ | QQQ | QQQ | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −3.7% a year | +8.6% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.33 | 1.85 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −9.3% to +1.9% | −0.7% to +18.0% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.56 | 0.15 | QYLD | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.8% | 11.9% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 57 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, QLDY and QYLD hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Nov 4, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
As of Nov 4, 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 | QLDY | QYLD | QLDY | QYLD | QLDY | QYLD |
| 3 months | −4.5% | +2.4% | 9.5% | 3.0% | −1.1 pts | +5.9 pts |
| 6 months | −3.1% | +5.4% | 18.5% | 6.0% | −2.8 pts | +5.8 pts |
| 1 year | +9.1% | +16.5% | 35.3% | 12.3% | −3.2 pts | +4.2 pts |
| 3 years | – | +52.7% | – | 37.9% | – | −38.6 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: QLDY Sep 2025 · QYLD Dec 2013 | +13.2% | +194.8% | 39.1% | 117.5% | −3.7 pts | −610.5 pts |
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QLDY
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, QLDY paid 35.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 27.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +9.1%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +12.3% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 3.2 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 19.7%, paid weekly. Defiance estimates that 0% of the distribution paid Nov 2, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
QYLD
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, QYLD paid 12.3% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 3.3%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +16.5%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +12.3% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 4.2 pts. At its price on Nov 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 12.2%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 99% 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.
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ETFIQ, QLDY against QYLD, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qldy-vs-qyld
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). QLDY against QYLD. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qldy-vs-qyld
[QLDY against QYLD (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qldy-vs-qyld)
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