PSQ vs SQQQ: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, PSQ finished 1.7 points over and SQQQ 3.4 points over. ProShares Short QQQ and ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ.
PSQ returned −1.3% while −1 times QQQ's move would have been −2.1%
SQQQ returned −7.9% while −3 times QQQ's move would have been −6.4%
A percentile among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months. 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 | SQQQ | PSQ | SQQQ | PSQ | SQQQ |
| 1 month | −2.8% | −9.4% | −3.3% | −9.9% | +0.5 pts | +0.5 pts |
| 3 months | −1.3% | −7.9% | −2.1% | −6.4% | +0.8 pts | −1.5 pts |
| 6 months | −20.4% | −54.3% | −26.9% | −80.6% | +6.5 pts | +26.4 pts |
| 1 year | −17.0% | −52.0% | −23.8% | −71.4% | +6.8 pts | +19.4 pts |
| 3 years | −46.8% | −91.7% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
| Since launch PSQ Jan 2010 · SQQQ Feb 2010 | −96.4% | −100.0% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
PSQ and SQQQ 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 SQQQ 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.
SQQQ in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: SQQQ returned −7.9% where its own daily promise gave −11.3%, 3.4 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −3 times QQQ's 2.1% implies −6.4%, which makes SQQQ look 1.5 points short. 4.9 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −3 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. SQQQ aims to return -3 times QQQ'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, PSQ or SQQQ?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, PSQ finished 0.8 points from what its multiple implies and SQQQ finished 1.5 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 SQQQ levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on the Nasdaq-100, PSQ at -1 times and SQQQ at -3 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, PSQ or SQQQ?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window PSQ’s moved at 19% annualized and SQQQ’s at 19%, so PSQ has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold PSQ or SQQQ 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 SQQQ, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/psq-vs-sqqq
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 SQQQ, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/psq-vs-sqqq Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, PSQ against SQQQ, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/psq-vs-sqqq
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). PSQ against SQQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/psq-vs-sqqq
- Markdown
- [PSQ against SQQQ (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/psq-vs-sqqq)