SPXL vs SPYU: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, SPXL finished 2.6 points short and SPYU 6.9 points short. Direxion Daily S&P 500(R) Bull 3X ETF and MAX S&P 500 4X Leveraged ETNs due October 30, 2043.
SPXL returned +4.2% while 3 times SPY's move would have been +7.6%
SPYU returned +1.6% while 4 times SPY's move would have been +10.1%
A percentile among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, 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 | SPXL | SPYU | SPXL | SPYU | SPXL | SPYU |
| 1 month | −2.1% | −3.7% | −1.0% | −1.3% | −1.1 pts | −2.4 pts |
| 3 months | +4.2% | +1.6% | +7.6% | +10.1% | −3.3 pts | −8.5 pts |
| 6 months | +49.1% | +57.1% | +50.9% | +67.9% | −1.9 pts | −10.8 pts |
| 1 year | +33.5% | +24.1% | +47.1% | +62.8% | −13.7 pts | −38.8 pts |
| 3 years | +268.8% | not published | +254.9% | not published | +13.8 pts | not published |
| Since launch SPXL Jan 2010 · SPYU Dec 2023 | +6824.9% | +170.4% | not meaningful | +292.7% | not meaningful | −122.3 pts |
SPXL and SPYU over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
SPXL and SPYU on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
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 one day it does that. 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. 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.
SPYU in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: SPYU returned +1.6% where its own daily promise gave +8.5%, 6.9 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and 4 times SPY's 2.5% implies +10.1%, which makes SPYU look 8.5 points short. 1.6 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any 4 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. SPYU aims to return +4 times SPY's move each day, then resets. Over longer, the daily results compound, so the total is not +4 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, SPXL or SPYU?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, SPXL finished 3.3 points from what its multiple implies and SPYU finished 8.5 points from its own, so SPXL came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are SPXL and SPYU levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on the S&P 500, SPXL at +3 times and SPYU at +4 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, SPXL or SPYU?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window SPXL’s moved at 11% annualized and SPYU’s at 11%, so SPXL has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold SPXL or SPYU 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, SPXL against SPYU, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/spxl-vs-spyu
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, SPXL against SPYU, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/spxl-vs-spyu Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, SPXL against SPYU, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/spxl-vs-spyu
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). SPXL against SPYU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/spxl-vs-spyu
- Markdown
- [SPXL against SPYU (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/spxl-vs-spyu)