PSQ vs QLD: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, PSQ finished 1.7 points over and QLD 1.4 points short. ProShares Short QQQ and ProShares Ultra QQQ.
PSQ returned −1.3% while −1 times QQQ's move would have been −2.1%
QLD returned +1.9% while 2 times QQQ's move would have been +4.2%
PSQ among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months
QLD among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months
A percentile among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months. QLD 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 | PSQ | QLD | PSQ | QLD | PSQ | QLD |
| 1 month | −2.8% | +6.0% | −3.3% | +6.6% | +0.5 pts | −0.6 pts |
| 3 months | −1.3% | +1.9% | −2.1% | +4.2% | +0.8 pts | −2.4 pts |
| 6 months | −20.4% | +53.2% | −26.9% | +53.7% | +6.5 pts | −0.5 pts |
| 1 year | −17.0% | +39.6% | −23.8% | +47.6% | +6.8 pts | −7.9 pts |
| 3 years | −46.8% | +224.6% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
| Since launch PSQ Jan 2010 · QLD Jan 2010 | −96.4% | +10175.7% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
PSQ and QLD over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
PSQ and QLD on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PSQ in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: PSQ returned −1.3% where its own daily promise gave −3.0%, 1.7 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −1 times QQQ's 2.1% implies −2.1%, which makes PSQ look 0.8 points over. 0.9 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −1 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. PSQ aims to return -1 times QQQ's move each day, then resets. Over one day it does that. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not -1 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. QQQ moved at 19% 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.
QLD in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: QLD returned +1.9% where its own daily promise gave +3.3%, 1.4 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and 2 times QQQ's 2.1% implies +4.2%, which makes QLD look 2.4 points short. 0.9 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any 2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. QLD aims to return +2 times QQQ'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, PSQ or QLD?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, PSQ finished 0.8 points from what its multiple implies and QLD finished 2.4 points from its own, so PSQ came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are PSQ and QLD levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on the Nasdaq-100, PSQ at -1 times and QLD at +2 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, PSQ or QLD?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window PSQ’s moved at 19% annualized and QLD’s at 19%, so PSQ has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold PSQ or QLD 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, PSQ against QLD, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/psq-vs-qld
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, PSQ against QLD, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/psq-vs-qld Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, PSQ against QLD, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/psq-vs-qld
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). PSQ against QLD. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/psq-vs-qld
- Markdown
- [PSQ against QLD (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/psq-vs-qld)