DUG vs XLEX: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, DUG finished 1.7 points over and XLEX 3.2 points short. ProShares UltraShort Energy and Corgi U.S. Energy 2x Daily ETF.
DUG returned −28.0% while −2 times XLE's move would have been −34.3%
XLEX returned +32.5% while 2 times XLE's move would have been +34.3%
DUG among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months
XLEX among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months
A percentile among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months. XLEX is a percentile among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months, a different set, so the two marks are not on one scale. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All leveraged ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →
Performance, window by window
| Total return | Multiple would give | Difference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | DUG | XLEX | DUG | XLEX | DUG | XLEX |
| 1 month | +6.7% | −7.2% | +6.5% | −6.5% | +0.1 pts | −0.7 pts |
| 3 months | −28.0% | +32.5% | −34.3% | +34.3% | +6.3 pts | −1.8 pts |
| 6 months | −13.2% | not published | −11.3% | not published | −1.8 pts | not published |
| 1 year | −52.3% | not published | −83.2% | not published | +30.9 pts | not published |
| 3 years | −57.9% | not published | −99.1% | not published | +41.2 pts | not published |
| Since launch DUG Jan 2010 · XLEX Jun 2026 | −99.6% | +6.7% | not meaningful | +12.3% | not meaningful | −5.6 pts |
DUG and XLEX over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
DUG and XLEX on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DUG in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: DUG returned −28.0% where its own daily promise gave −29.7%, 1.7 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −2 times XLE's 17.2% implies −34.3%, which makes DUG look 6.3 points over. 4.6 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. DUG aims to return -2 times XLE's move each day, then resets. Over one day it does that. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not -2 times the period's move: in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less, and in a steady run it can be more. XLE moved at 21% annualized over that window. That is what decides how far the two figures separate: the same fund on a calm underlying and a violent one is a different product.
XLEX in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: XLEX returned +32.5% where its own daily promise gave +35.7%, 3.2 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and 2 times XLE's 17.2% implies +34.3%, which makes XLEX look 1.8 points short. 1.4 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any 2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. XLEX aims to return +2 times XLE's move each day, then resets. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not +2 times the period's move: in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less, and in a steady run it can be more.
Questions people ask
- Which came closer to its stated multiple, DUG or XLEX?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, DUG finished 6.3 points from what its multiple implies and XLEX finished 1.8 points from its own, so XLEX came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are DUG and XLEX levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on energy, DUG at -2 times and XLEX at +2 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, DUG or XLEX?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window DUG’s moved at 21% annualized and XLEX’s at 21%, so DUG has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold DUG or XLEX for a year?
- Both reset every day, so the multiple in the name applies to a single day and the daily results compound. Over a year the total is not the multiple times the year’s move, and in a market that falls and comes back it is reliably less. ETFIQ makes no recommendation either way.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.
ETFIQ, DUG against XLEX, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dug-vs-xlex
Free to use with attribution. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, DUG against XLEX, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dug-vs-xlex Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, DUG against XLEX, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dug-vs-xlex
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). DUG against XLEX. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dug-vs-xlex
- Markdown
- [DUG against XLEX (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/dug-vs-xlex)