Bearish Tech Bets Rise as Traders Pull $874M from Leveraged & Inverse ETFs

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Weekly Channel Summary

The Leverage & Inverse channel, encompassing 787 ETFs from 26 issuers, holds a total of $189.09 billion in assets under management. The segment experienced net outflows of $874 million over the past week, trimming year-to-date inflows to $6.41 billion. Over the last twelve months, the channel has accumulated $7.52 billion in net new assets.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

Leveraged and Inverse Single Stock products led performance for the week, surging by 12.06% despite being down over the past three months. This weekly gain contributes to a remarkable 107.19% year-to-date return for the category. On the other end of the spectrum, Crypto-focused products were the worst performers, declining by 3.66% for the week. This continues a difficult trend for the category, which is now down 51.55% year-to-date.

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance

The top-performing fund this week was the MicroSectors U.S. Big Oil 3 Leveraged ETN (NRGU), which soared 28.44% amid a strong move in the energy sector. Conversely, its inverse counterpart, the MicroSectors U.S. Big Oil -3 Inverse Leveraged ETN (NRGD), was the week’s biggest laggard, plummeting 25.30%. Another notable performer was the Roundhill T-REX 2X Long DRAM Daily Target ETF (RAM), which gained 27.17%.

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
NRGU MicroSectors U.S. Big Oil 3 Leveraged ETN 28.44%
RAM Roundhill T-REX 2X Long DRAM Daily Target ETF 27.17%
DRAL Defiance Daily Target 2X Long DRAM ETF 27.16%
RAML Leverage Shares 2X Long Memory Daily ETF 26.45%
WTIU MicroSectors Energy 3X Leveraged ETNs 24.62%
Bottom Performers
NRGD MicroSectors U.S. Big Oil -3 Inverse Leveraged ETN -25.30%
RAMZ T-REX 2X Inverse DRAM Daily Target ETF -24.00%
WTID MicroSectors Energy 3X Inverse Leveraged ETNs -22.30%
OILD MicroSectors Oil & Gas Exp. & Prod. -3x Inverse Leveraged ETN -20.82%
CRDX Volatility Shares 2x Cardano ETF -20.68%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

The Leverage & Inverse channel saw net outflows totaling $874 million for the week, driven by significant redemptions from equity-focused products. The Single Stock category experienced the largest withdrawals, shedding $829 million, while the broader Equity category lost $86 million. In contrast, Commodity-focused products bucked the trend, attracting $46 million in fresh capital. Despite the weekly outflows, the Single Stock category remains the leader for year-to-date inflows at $11.45 billion.

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM 5 Day 30 Day 90 Day YTD 1 Year
Leverage | Inverse – Commodity 22 $4.45B $46M $134M $3,278M $5,679M $6,424M
Leverage | Inverse – Crypto 28 $2.85B $1M -$40M $303M $1,350M $4,873M
Leverage | Inverse – Fixed Income 16 $3.01B -$6M $79M -$350M -$1,297M -$2,546M
Leverage | Inverse – Equity 235 $142.82B -$86M $4,630M $5,174M -$10,769M -$19,407M
Leverage | Inverse – Single Stock 485 $35.90B -$829M -$1,754M $6,174M $11,445M $18,172M

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow

Flows were concentrated in popular technology trades, with investors showing mixed sentiment. The GraniteShares 2x Long NVDA Daily ETF (NVDL) and the ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ (SQQQ) tied for the top spot, each gathering $214 million in new assets. On the redemption side, profit-taking was evident in the semiconductor space, as the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF (SOXL) saw the largest outflows of the week at $483 million. The Leverage Shares 2X Long SPCX Daily ETF (SPCH) also experienced significant withdrawals, losing $156 million.

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
NVDL GraniteShares 2x Long NVDA Daily ETF $214M
SQQQ ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ $214M
QLD ProShares Ultra QQQ $124M
SOXS Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X ETF $121M
SCO ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil $94M
Outflows
SOXL Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF -$483M
SPCH Leverage Shares 2X Long SPCX Daily ETF -$156M
SNXX Tradr 2X Long SNDK Daily ETF -$118M
PLTU Direxion Daily PLTR Bull 2X ETF -$101M
MUU Direxion Daily MU Bull 2X ETF -$99M

Note: the following fund(s) were excluded from the flow totals above because the weekly flow exceeds 75% of the fund’s AUM and may be the result of a custom rebalance: NBIZ ($49M).

Issuer League Table Update

ProShares and Direxion continue to dominate the Leverage & Inverse landscape, controlling 44.96% and 36.59% of the market share, respectively. This week, ProShares led all issuers in asset gathering, attracting $402 million in net inflows. In contrast, Direxion experienced the largest outflows, with investors pulling a net $853 million from its suite of products.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM AUM Market Share
ProShares 113 $85.01B 44.96%
Direxion 125 $69.18B 36.59%
GraniteShares 44 $9.32B 4.93%
REX Microsectors 24 $8.40B 4.44%
Tradr 79 $5.87B 3.11%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Brand 5-Day Flow
Inflows
ProShares $402M
GraniteShares $64M
Roundhill $21M
Outflows
Direxion -$853M
Leverage Shares -$192M
Tradr -$134M

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.