QLD vs SQQQ: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, QLD finished 1.4 points short and SQQQ 3.4 points over. ProShares Ultra QQQ and ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ.
QLD returned +1.9% while 2 times QQQ's move would have been +4.2%
SQQQ returned −7.9% while −3 times QQQ's move would have been −6.4%
QLD among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months
SQQQ among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months
A percentile among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months. SQQQ is a percentile among the 125 inverse ETFs 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 | QLD | SQQQ | QLD | SQQQ | QLD | SQQQ |
| 1 month | +6.0% | −9.4% | +6.6% | −9.9% | −0.6 pts | +0.5 pts |
| 3 months | +1.9% | −7.9% | +4.2% | −6.4% | −2.4 pts | −1.5 pts |
| 6 months | +53.2% | −54.3% | +53.7% | −80.6% | −0.5 pts | +26.4 pts |
| 1 year | +39.6% | −52.0% | +47.6% | −71.4% | −7.9 pts | +19.4 pts |
| 3 years | +224.6% | −91.7% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
| Since launch QLD Jan 2010 · SQQQ Feb 2010 | +10175.7% | −100.0% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
QLD 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
QLD and SQQQ on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
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 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. 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, QLD or SQQQ?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, QLD finished 2.4 points from what its multiple implies and SQQQ finished 1.5 points from its own, so SQQQ came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are QLD and SQQQ levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on the Nasdaq-100, QLD at +2 times and SQQQ at -3 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, QLD or SQQQ?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window QLD’s moved at 19% annualized and SQQQ’s at 19%, so QLD has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold QLD 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, QLD against SQQQ, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/qld-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, QLD against SQQQ, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/qld-vs-sqqq Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, QLD against SQQQ, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/qld-vs-sqqq
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). QLD against SQQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/qld-vs-sqqq
- Markdown
- [QLD against SQQQ (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/qld-vs-sqqq)