Leveraged & Inverse Recap: Single-Stock ETFs Rake in $2.2B Amidst Wild Sector Divergence

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Weekly Channel Summary

The Leveraged & Inverse (Non-Traditional) ETF channel currently holds $164.1 billion in total Assets Under Management (AUM) across 572 ETFs from 24 distinct issuers. Over the past five days, the channel experienced net inflows of +$0.82B. Despite this positive weekly momentum, longer-term flows remain heavily in the red, with Year-To-Date (YTD) flows sitting at -$6.68B and 1-Year flows at -$19.18B.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

This week showcased sharp performance divergence across the channel, highlighting the extreme volatility inherent in leveraged and inverse strategies. The underlying action favored volatile sectors, with Commodity: Focused – Energy and Equity: Thematic – Disruptive Tech leading the pack, returning +6.33% and +4.85%, respectively. Conversely, core equities remained relatively muted, and the heaviest damage was concentrated in precious metals. Equity: Thematic – Precious Metals plunged -7.56% while Commodity: Focused – Precious Metals dropped -1.63%.

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance

The single best-performing product this week was the GDXD (MicroSectors Gold Miners -3X Inverse Leveraged ETNs), which skyrocketed +23.63%. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the two worst-performing ETFs reflected the brutal pain on the long side of the same trade: the GDXU (MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETN) and the NUGT (Direxion Daily Gold Miners Index Bull 2X ETF), which collapsed by -22.01% and -15.17%, respectively.

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
GDXD MicroSectors Gold Miners -3X Inverse Leveraged ETNs +23.63%
TXXD 21Shares 2x Long Dogecoin ETF +22.31%
DUST Direxion Daily Gold Miners Index Bear 2X ETF +16.25%
NRGU MicroSectors U.S. Big Oil 3 Leveraged ETN +14.38%
KORU Direxion Daily MSCI South Korea Bull 3X ETF +14.16%
Bottom Performers
GDXU MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETN -22.01%
NUGT Direxion Daily Gold Miners Index Bull 2X ETF -15.17%
STLU Volatility Shares 2x Stellar ETF -14.40%
NRGD MicroSectors U.S. Big Oil -3 Inverse Leveraged ETN -14.14%
NAIL Direxion Daily Homebuilders & Supplies Bull 3X ETF -13.82%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

Over the last 5 days, the Non-Traditional channel absorbed +$660M in net inflows. This growth was entirely dominated by the Leverage | Inverse – Single Stock category, which drew an astounding +$2,209M despite accounting for just $31.2B in AUM. Commodity strategies also saw significant positive interest with +$183M. These massive single-stock injections were significantly offset by the Leverage | Inverse – Equity category, which served as the largest detractor, bleeding -$1,729M over the same 5-day span.

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM 5 Day 30 Day 90 Day YTD 1 Year
Leverage | Inverse – Single Stock 311 $31,232M +$2,209M +$522M +$4,444M +$4,954M +$7,937M
Leverage | Inverse – Commodity 16 $5,596M +$183M +$144M +$310M +$2,428M +$3,411M
Leverage | Inverse – Fixed Income 15 $3,560M +$56M -$182M -$536M -$941M -$1,713M
Leverage | Inverse – Crypto 24 $3,929M -$60M +$194M +$940M +$1,108M +$5,005M
Leverage | Inverse – Equity 193 $119,829M -$1,729M -$12,546M -$6,764M -$14,404M -$33,997M

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow

At the product level, the top ETF for fresh capital was the SOXS, which raked in +$262M. The pain on the outflow side was heavily concentrated; the top two ETFs for capital destruction were the TQQQ and KORU, hemorrhaging -$1,178M and -$280M, respectively.

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
SOXS Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X ETF +$262M
SCO ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil +$250M
SQQQ ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ +$77M
LABU Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bull 3X ETF +$70M
PSQ ProShares Short QQQ +$54M
Outflows
TQQQ ProShares UltraPro QQQ -$1,178M
KORU Direxion Daily MSCI South Korea Bull 3X ETF -$280M
SOXL Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF -$238M
FAS Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X ETF -$232M
TECL Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X ETF -$111M

Issuer League Table Update

The channel remains heavily centralized at the top, with ProShares (45.90%) and Direxion (35.35%) dominating aggregate market share. However, recent momentum has favored alternative issuers tapping into the single-stock craze. GraniteShares gathered the most weekly inflows by a wide margin, adding +$1,317M. Meanwhile, the heavyweight leader ProShares suffered the largest outflows, seeing -$1,021M leave its strategies.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM AUM Market Share
ProShares 110 $75.44B 45.90%
Direxion 118 $58.10B 35.35%
GraniteShares 39 $8.05B 4.90%
REX Microsectors 19 $7.36B 4.48%
Tradr 63 $4.66B 2.84%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Brand 5-Day Flow
Inflows
GraniteShares +$1,317M
Tradr +$280M
Defiance +$215M
Outflows
ProShares -$1,021M
Direxion -$136M
Volatility Shares -$54M

For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth Leverage | Inverse ETF reports in the right side panel of this page.

Disclosures

This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. All investments, including ETFs, involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Investors should consider their investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.

This analysis was developed by the team at ETF Action. We leverage advanced AI tools to assist in the drafting and refinement of our content, based on our expert prompts, direction, and final review.