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SMCY YieldMax(R) SMCI Option Income Strategy ETF

Synthetic covered call on SMCI, paying weekly

Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, SMCY paid 46.8% in cash and still finished 3.9 points behind SMCI.

YieldMax · Income ETFs · data as of

Key facts

46.8%Cash paid, 1 year, on its starting price
−18.9%Total return, 1 year
−3.9 ptsAgainst SMCI
96.9%Return of capital, latest payout (YieldMax estimate)

Method

ETFIQ Return Stability Score

35.149th of 64

SMCY paid 46.8% in cash. Its price fell 66.5%, so 100% of what you were paid came back out of your own capital.

Was the payout funded by returns, or by your own capital?

Against its benchmark
AMYY −218.2 ptsMRNY −148.8 ptsAMDY −76.2 ptsDIPS −43.1 ptsNVYY −20.9 ptsXOMO −19.9 ptsTQQY −19.6 ptsAZYY −19.3 ptsAPLY −17.0 ptsCOYY −16.3 ptsGOOP −14.1 ptsMARO −13.2 ptsMSTW −12.2 ptsHOOW −11.0 ptsCOIW −10.7 ptsTSMY −10.3 ptsPLTW −9.3 ptsGMEY −8.7 ptsTSLW −8.3 ptsGOOY −8.0 ptsNFLW −7.9 ptsAMZP −7.3 ptsMETW −7.1 ptsAAPY −7.0 ptsTSYY −6.8 ptsMSFW −6.5 ptsMSFY −6.4 ptsXYZY −6.4 ptsHCOW −6.3 ptsYSPY −6.3 ptsAVGW −5.6 ptsNFLP −5.1 ptsAMZW −4.0 ptsAMZY −3.8 ptsSNOY −3.8 ptsBRKW −3.7 ptsHOOY −3.4 ptsAIYY −3.3 ptsTSLP −3.2 ptsFBY −2.7 ptsNVDW −1.4 ptsBRKC −1.3 ptsPYPY −1.2 ptsDRAY −0.7 ptsNVDY −0.2 ptsRBLY +0.9 ptsTSII +1.1 ptsGOOW +1.4 ptsMSFO +2.1 ptsNVII +2.5 ptsAAPW +2.6 ptsBABO +4.2 ptsNFLY +4.4 ptsPLTY +4.6 ptsCONY +5.1 ptsMSTY +5.3 ptsRDYY +5.5 ptsCVNY +7.2 ptsTSLY +7.5 ptsCRSH +23.2 ptsAMDW +58.4 ptsFIAT +60.8 ptsWNTR +78.8 ptsSMCY −3.9 ptsSMCY −3.9 pts−218.2 pts+78.8 pts

52.3% of the 64 sit at or below SMCY on this measure.

What happened to the principal
COYY −87.2%MSTW −85.9%RBLY −81.9%MSTY −79.7%COIW −77.9%MARO −77.0%AIYY −73.3%DRAY −73.2%RDYY −72.9%CONY −70.2%TSYY −70.1%NFLW −65.0%BABO −57.9%HOOW −57.4%NFLY −57.3%HOOY −56.4%CVNY −54.5%NFLP −54.5%TSLW −54.2%GMEY −52.7%PYPY −52.7%NVYY −52.3%TSII −51.4%XYZY −51.4%WNTR −51.3%PLTW −50.7%TSLY −49.5%DIPS −47.3%METW −46.9%FIAT −45.5%PLTY −45.2%FBY −44.9%AMYY −44.7%AZYY −42.9%AVGW −42.1%CRSH −39.8%TQQY −35.4%TSLP −34.5%MSFW −33.1%AMZY −32.0%MSFO −29.9%AMZW −27.6%MSFY −25.4%YSPY −25.0%SNOY −24.8%NVDW −22.8%NVDY −22.3%NVII −21.1%BRKW −16.9%GOOY −16.6%BRKC −15.6%AMZP −14.6%APLY −11.3%XOMO −10.0%TSMY −8.1%GOOW −3.7%HCOW −0.3%AAPW +7.9%GOOP +8.5%AAPY +19.2%AMDY +28.6%MRNY +93.6%AMDW +110.0%SMCY −66.5%SMCY −66.5%−87.2%+110.0%

18% of the 64 sit at or below SMCY on this measure.

Weighted evenly, those two positions are what the score combines, across the 64 income ETFs writing on a single company. Neither spread above is the score: a fund can sit further right on one and score lower. A position in this set, not a rating: it moves when the set moves, and it is not a figure to average against another desk's.

What the score is computed from
What it measuresThis fundIts percentileWeight
against its benchmark−3.9 pts52.350%
what happened to the principal−66.5%1850%

All income ETFs ranked by this score · How it is computed

What a holder got

SMCY against SMCISMCY returned −18.9% with distributions reinvested against −14.9% for Super Micro (SMCI), a gap of −3.9 pts. Of that, 46.8% arrived as cash rather than price.−18.9%SMCY total return−14.9%Super Micro (SMCI)

Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, SMCY returned −18.9% with distributions reinvested and Super Micro (SMCI) returned −14.9%, so a holder came out behind it by 3.9 points. The lighter segment is the 46.8% that arrived as cash rather than as price.

Method

Period by period

SMCY over each window to Sep 18, 2026. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation. Source: ETFIQ.
WindowCash paidPriceTotal returnSMCIAhead or behind
3 months19.9%+1.3%+24.8%+27.5%−2.7 pts
6 months47.8%+5.6%+61.7%+90.4%−28.7 pts
1 year46.8%−66.5%−18.9%−14.9%−3.9 pts
Since launch63.9%−89.5%−32.4%−11.6%−20.8 pts

Method

In plain words

Since it launched on Sep 12, 2024, SMCY has returned −32.4% with distributions reinvested, against −11.6% for Super Micro (SMCI), and has paid out 63.9% of its starting value in cash along the way. It pays weekly, and at its current price the latest distribution annualizes to 65.6%. YieldMax estimates that 97% of the distribution paid Sep 18, 2026 was a return of capital. That is the issuer’s own Rule 19a-1 estimate and a tax characterization, made before the fund year closes: it says the payment included money the fund gave back rather than earned, not that the fund is eroding.

SMCY (YieldMax(R) SMCI Option Income Strategy ETF), income ETFs fields as of Sep 18, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
Strategysynthetic covered call
BenchmarkSuper Micro (SMCI)
Paysweekly
Net assets (issuer page, as of Sep 18, 2026)$143m
Latest payout, annualized (ETFIQ)65.6%
Expense ratio (485BPOS XBRL, Feb 24, 2026)1.01%
Cash paid, last 12 months, over today’s price (ETFIQ)139.7%
LaunchedSep 12, 2024
Return of capital, latest distribution (YieldMax 19a-1 estimate)96.9%

Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation from exchange prices and cash distributions (Tiingo end-of-day), total return with distributions reinvested. Return of capital is the issuer’s estimate. How these figures are computed

Questions people ask

How much has SMCY paid over the last year?
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, SMCY paid 46.8% of its starting price in cash distributions, while the price fell 66.5%.
Is SMCY ahead of SMCI?
Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, with every distribution reinvested, SMCY returned −18.9% against −14.9% for Super Micro (SMCI), so a holder was behind it by 3.9 points.
How often does SMCY pay, and how much?
SMCY pays weekly. The latest distribution annualizes to 65.6% at its price on Sep 18, 2026, which is not a promise; the next one can differ.
Is the SMCY distribution return of capital?
YieldMax estimates 97% of the distribution paid Sep 18, 2026 was return of capital. That is a tax characterization from the fund's own 19a-1 notice, not a measure of erosion.
What does SMCY cost?
The prospectus expense ratio is 1.01% a year.

The words on this page

Total return
What a holder actually ended up with: price change plus every distribution, reinvested. The only figure that answers whether you came out ahead.
Cash paid
Distributions over the window as a share of what the fund cost at the start. A measure of cash delivered, not of return: a fund can pay a great deal and still lose money.
Ahead or behind
The fund’s total return minus the benchmark’s over exactly the same days, in percentage points. Both sides reinvest.
Return of capital
The issuer’s own estimate, in a Rule 19a-1 notice, of how much of a distribution was your own money returned. An estimate and a tax characterization, not a measure of erosion.
Covered call
Selling call options on shares the fund holds. It collects a premium and gives up the gains above the strike, which is why these funds pay well and lag a rising market.

Every term used here, defined in full on the income ETFs vocabulary page.

Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

Compare SMCY

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Where SMCY is written about

SMCY, Income ETFs, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 18, 2026. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. ETFIQ is an independent publisher, is not a fund issuer, broker-dealer or investment adviser, and makes no recommendations.
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Open SMCY live on ETFIQ, where the figures refresh with the data.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, SMCY, income ETFs, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/funds/smcy Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

How these figures are computed · Standards and sources