SDS vs SPXS: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, SDS finished 2.5 points over and SPXS 3.4 points over. ProShares UltraShort S&P500 and Direxion Daily S&P 500(R) Bear 3X ETF.
SDS returned −3.2% while −2 times SPY's move would have been −5.0%
SPXS returned −5.5% while −3 times SPY's move would have been −7.6%
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 | SDS | SPXS | SDS | SPXS | SDS | SPXS |
| 1 month | +1.2% | +1.6% | +0.7% | +1.0% | +0.6 pts | +0.7 pts |
| 3 months | −3.2% | −5.5% | −5.0% | −7.6% | +1.8 pts | +2.1 pts |
| 6 months | −24.8% | −35.9% | −34.0% | −50.9% | +9.2 pts | +15.0 pts |
| 1 year | −21.1% | −32.3% | −31.4% | −47.1% | +10.4 pts | +14.8 pts |
| 3 years | −65.3% | −82.2% | −170.0% | −254.9% | +104.7 pts | +172.8 pts |
| Since launch SDS Jan 2010 · SPXS Jan 2010 | −99.5% | −100.0% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
SDS and SPXS 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 SPXS 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.
SPXS in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: SPXS returned −5.5% where its own daily promise gave −8.9%, 3.4 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −3 times SPY's 2.5% implies −7.6%, which makes SPXS look 2.1 points over. 1.3 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −3 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. SPXS 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 SPXS?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, SDS finished 1.8 points from what its multiple implies and SPXS finished 2.1 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 SPXS levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on the S&P 500, SDS at -2 times and SPXS at -3 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, SDS or SPXS?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window SDS’s moved at 11% annualized and SPXS’s at 11%, so SDS has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold SDS or SPXS 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 SPXS, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sds-vs-spxs
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 SPXS, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sds-vs-spxs Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, SDS against SPXS, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sds-vs-spxs
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). SDS against SPXS. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sds-vs-spxs
- Markdown
- [SDS against SPXS (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/sds-vs-spxs)