LABD vs LABU: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, LABD finished 3.0 points over and LABU 1.9 points short. Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bear 3X ETF and Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bull 3X ETF.
LABD returned −10.6% while −3 times XBI's move would have been −2.2%
LABU returned −5.8% while 3 times XBI's move would have been +2.2%
LABD among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months
LABU among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months
A percentile among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months. LABU 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 | LABD | LABU | LABD | LABU | LABD | LABU |
| 1 month | +7.0% | −10.3% | +8.9% | −8.9% | −1.9 pts | −1.4 pts |
| 3 months | −10.6% | −5.8% | −2.2% | +2.2% | −8.5 pts | −8.0 pts |
| 6 months | −55.1% | +56.7% | −68.3% | +68.3% | +13.2 pts | −11.7 pts |
| 1 year | −82.0% | +185.4% | −174.1% | +174.1% | +92.0 pts | +11.4 pts |
| 3 years | −96.2% | +254.5% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
| Since launch LABD May 2015 · LABU May 2015 | −100.0% | −91.3% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
LABD and LABU over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
LABD and LABU on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
LABD in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: LABD returned −10.6% where its own daily promise gave −13.6%, 3.0 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −3 times XBI's 0.7% implies −2.2%, which makes LABD look 8.5 points short. 11.5 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −3 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. LABD aims to return -3 times XBI's move each day, then resets. Over one day it does that. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not -3 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. XBI moved at 29% 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.
LABU in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: LABU returned −5.8% where its own daily promise gave −4.0%, 1.9 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and 3 times XBI's 0.7% implies +2.2%, which makes LABU look 8.0 points short. 6.1 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any 3 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. LABU aims to return +3 times XBI's move each day, then resets. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not +3 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, LABD or LABU?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, LABD finished 8.5 points from what its multiple implies and LABU finished 8.0 points from its own, so LABU came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are LABD and LABU levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on biotech, LABD at -3 times and LABU at +3 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, LABD or LABU?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window LABD’s moved at 29% annualized and LABU’s at 29%, so LABD has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold LABD or LABU 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, LABD against LABU, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/labd-vs-labu
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, LABD against LABU, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/labd-vs-labu Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, LABD against LABU, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/labd-vs-labu
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). LABD against LABU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/labd-vs-labu
- Markdown
- [LABD against LABU (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/labd-vs-labu)