TBF vs TBT: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, TBF finished 1.8 points over and TBT 2.7 points over. ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury and ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury.
TBF returned +10.6% while −1 times TLT's move would have been +8.3%
TBT returned +20.8% while −2 times TLT's move would have been +16.7%
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 | TBF | TBT | TBF | TBT | TBF | TBT |
| 1 month | +6.0% | +12.0% | +5.4% | +10.8% | +0.6 pts | +1.3 pts |
| 3 months | +10.6% | +20.8% | +8.3% | +16.7% | +2.3 pts | +4.2 pts |
| 6 months | +11.7% | +22.3% | +8.1% | +16.2% | +3.6 pts | +6.2 pts |
| 1 year | +15.8% | +29.1% | +9.0% | +17.9% | +6.8 pts | +11.1 pts |
| 3 years | +18.9% | +21.8% | +0.4% | +0.9% | +18.5 pts | +20.9 pts |
| Since launch TBF Jan 2010 · TBT Jan 2010 | −37.0% | −74.5% | −41.5% | −83.1% | +4.5 pts | +8.6 pts |
TBF and TBT over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
TBF and TBT on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
TBF in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: TBF returned +10.6% where its own daily promise gave +8.8%, 1.8 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −1 times TLT's −8.3% implies +8.3%, which makes TBF look 2.3 points over. 0.5 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −1 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. TBF aims to return -1 times TLT'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. TLT moved at 10% 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.
TBT in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: TBT returned +20.8% where its own daily promise gave +18.1%, 2.7 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −2 times TLT's −8.3% implies +16.7%, which makes TBT look 4.2 points over. 1.5 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −2 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. TBT aims to return -2 times TLT's move each day, then resets. 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.
Questions people ask
- Which came closer to its stated multiple, TBF or TBT?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, TBF finished 2.3 points from what its multiple implies and TBT finished 4.2 points from its own, so TBF came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are TBF and TBT levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on 20-year Treasuries, TBF at -1 times and TBT at -2 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, TBF or TBT?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window TBF’s moved at 10% annualized and TBT’s at 10%, so TBF has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold TBF or TBT 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, TBF against TBT, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/tbf-vs-tbt
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, TBF against TBT, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/tbf-vs-tbt Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, TBF against TBT, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/tbf-vs-tbt
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). TBF against TBT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/tbf-vs-tbt
- Markdown
- [TBF against TBT (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/tbf-vs-tbt)