TZA vs URTY: which held to its multiple?
Over three months against its own daily promise, TZA finished 4.2 points over and URTY 1.9 points short. Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 3X ETF and ProShares UltraPro Russell2000.
TZA returned +25.0% while −3 times IWM's move would have been +20.8%
URTY returned −22.3% while 3 times IWM's move would have been −20.8%
TZA among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months
URTY among the 470 leveraged ETFs, long, over three months
A percentile among the 125 inverse ETFs over three months. URTY 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 | TZA | URTY | TZA | URTY | TZA | URTY |
| 1 month | +17.9% | −15.8% | +15.6% | −15.6% | +2.3 pts | −0.1 pts |
| 3 months | +25.0% | −22.3% | +20.8% | −20.8% | +4.2 pts | −1.6 pts |
| 6 months | −29.7% | +28.2% | −35.7% | +35.7% | +6.0 pts | −7.5 pts |
| 1 year | −40.1% | +27.7% | −48.1% | +48.1% | +8.0 pts | −20.4 pts |
| 3 years | −82.9% | +104.5% | −187.7% | +187.7% | +104.8 pts | −83.3 pts |
| Since launch TZA Jan 2010 · URTY Feb 2010 | −100.0% | +572.8% | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful | not meaningful |
TZA and URTY over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
TZA and URTY on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
TZA in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: TZA returned +25.0% where its own daily promise gave +20.8%, 4.2 points over. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and −3 times IWM's −6.9% implies +20.8%, which makes TZA look 4.2 points over. 0.0 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any −3 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. TZA aims to return -3 times IWM'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. IWM moved at 13% 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.
URTY in plain words
Three months to Sep 30, 2026: URTY returned −22.3% where its own daily promise gave −20.4%, 1.9 points short. Read the multiple against the whole window instead and 3 times IWM's −6.9% implies −20.8%, which makes URTY look 1.6 points short. 0.4 of that is daily compounding, which happens to any 3 times fund over the same path, and the rest is the fund. URTY aims to return +3 times IWM'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, TZA or URTY?
- Over the window to Sep 30, 2026, TZA finished 4.2 points from what its multiple implies and URTY finished 1.6 points from its own, so URTY came closer. Neither figure predicts the next window: it depends on how much the underlying moves about.
- Are TZA and URTY levered on the same thing?
- Yes. Both are levered on the Russell 2000, TZA at -3 times and URTY at +3 times the daily move.
- Which one decays faster, TZA or URTY?
- Decay follows how much the underlying moves about. Over this window TZA’s moved at 13% annualized and URTY’s at 13%, so TZA has the rougher ride and, at the same multiple, loses more to compounding.
- Can I hold TZA or URTY 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, TZA against URTY, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/tza-vs-urty
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, TZA against URTY, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/tza-vs-urty Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
Other forms
- Plain
- ETFIQ, TZA against URTY, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/tza-vs-urty
- APA
- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). TZA against URTY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/tza-vs-urty
- Markdown
- [TZA against URTY (ETFIQ, Sep 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/leverage/tza-vs-urty)