Data as of .
QQQY vs XYLD: which paid, and which earned it?
Over the year QQQY paid 30.5% of its price in cash against XYLD’s 11.0%, and returned more with it reinvested.
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, QQQY and XYLD hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Only in QQQY | Only in XYLD |
|---|---|
| Ndx 12/18/2026 1000.34 C 98.70% | NVIDIA CORP 8.24% |
| Cash & Other 0.95% | APPLE INC 7.55% |
| First American Government Obligations Fund 12/01/2031 0.49% | MICROSOFT CORP 5.61% |
| Ndx 09/21/2026 29730.14 C 0.20% | AMAZON.COM INC 3.83% |
| Ndx 09/21/2026 29644.17 C -0.34% | ALPHABET INC-CL A 3.13% |
| BROADCOM INC 2.62% | |
| ALPHABET INC-CL C 2.49% | |
| META PLATFORMS INC 2.26% |
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 Sep 18, 2026 and Sep 21, 2026.
Performance, window by window
| Window | Total return | Cash paid | Against the benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QQQY | XYLD | QQQY | XYLD | QQQY | XYLD | |
| 3 months | −0.5% | +4.5% | 8.0% | 2.6% | +2.0 pts | +2.3 pts |
| 6 months | +24.3% | +12.4% | 17.4% | 5.6% | +0.1 pts | −5.6 pts |
| 1 year | +21.1% | +17.9% | 30.5% | 11.0% | −0.6 pts | +1.4 pts |
| 3 years | +59.1% | +44.5% | 88.1% | 32.5% | −39.0 pts | −33.9 pts |
| Since launch | +56.9% | +191.5% | 86.8% | 112.9% | −37.7 pts | −315.3 pts |
| QQQY Defiance Nasdaq 100 Weekly Distribution ETF Option income on QQQ, paying weekly | XYLD Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF Covered call on SPY, paying monthly | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | Defiance | Global X |
| Strategy | option income | covered call |
| Benchmark | Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| Pays | weekly | monthly |
| Payout rate, annualized | 29.5% | 8.9% |
| Expense ratio | 1.01% | 0.60% |
| Cash paid, 1 year | 30.5% | 11.0% |
| Price change, 1 year | −13.2% | +5.9% |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.1% | +17.9% |
| Benchmark return, 1 year | +21.8% | +16.6% |
| Ahead or behind | −0.6 pts | +1.4 pts |
| Return of capital, latest estimate | 69% | 93% |
| Age | 1100 days | 4834 days |
| Net assets | $188m | $3.4bn |
QQQY in plain words
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, QQQY paid 30.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 13.2%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +21.1%. Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) returned +21.8% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 0.6 pts. At its price on Sep 18, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 29.5%, paid weekly. Defiance estimates that 69% of the distribution paid Sep 18, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterization rather than a measure of erosion).
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, QQQY or XYLD?
- Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, QQQY paid 30.5% of its starting price in cash and XYLD paid 11.0%, so QQQY paid more. Cash paid is not the same as money made: the price change matters too.
- Which returned more once distributions are counted, QQQY or XYLD?
- With every distribution reinvested, QQQY returned +21.1% and XYLD returned +17.9% over the year to Sep 18, 2026, so QQQY returned more.
- Which is cheaper, QQQY or XYLD?
- QQQY charges 1.01% 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, QQQY against XYLD, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/income/qqqy-vs-xyld Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.