SDS vs SPXL: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, SDS finished 2.5 points over and SPXL 2.6 points short. ProShares UltraShort S&P500 and Direxion Daily S&P 500(R) Bull 3X ETF.
SDS returned −3.2% while −2 times SPY's move would have been −5.0%
SPXL returned +4.2% while 3 times SPY's move would have been +7.6%
SDS among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months
SPXL among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months
A percentile among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months. SPXL 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 | SDS | SPXL | SDS | SPXL | SDS | SPXL |
| 1 month | +1.2% | −2.1% | +0.7% | −1.0% | +0.6 pts | −1.1 pts |
| 3 months | −3.2% | +4.2% | −5.0% | +7.6% | +1.8 pts | −3.3 pts |
| 6 months | −24.8% | +49.1% | −34.0% | +50.9% | +9.2 pts | −1.9 pts |
| 1 year | −21.1% | +33.5% | −31.4% | +47.1% | +10.4 pts | −13.7 pts |
| 3 years | −65.3% | +268.8% | −170.0% | +254.9% | +104.7 pts | +13.8 pts |
| Since launch SDS Jan 2010 · SPXL Jan 2010 | −99.5% | +6824.9% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
SDS and SPXL over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
SDS and SPXL on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SDS in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: SDS returned −3.2% where its own daily promise gave −5.7%, 2.5 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −2 times SPY's 2.5% implies −5.0%, which makes SDS look 1.8 points over. 0.7 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. SDS aims to return -2 times SPY'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. SPY moved at 11% 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.
SPXL in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: SPXL returned +4.2% where its own daily promise gave +6.8%, 2.6 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and 3 times SPY's 2.5% implies +7.6%, which makes SPXL look 3.3 points short. 0.8 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any 3 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. SPXL aims to return +3 times SPY'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, SDS or SPXL?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, SDS finished 1.8 points from what its multiple implies and SPXL finished 3.3 points from its own, so SDS came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are SDS and SPXL levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on the S&P 500, SDS at -2 times and SPXL at +3 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, SDS or SPXL?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window SDS’s moved at 11% annualized and SPXL’s at 11%, so SDS has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold SDS or SPXL 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, SDS against SPXL, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sds-vs-spxl
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, SDS against SPXL, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sds-vs-spxl Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, SDS against SPXL, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sds-vs-spxl
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). SDS against SPXL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sds-vs-spxl
- Markdown
- [SDS against SPXL (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sds-vs-spxl)