Leveraged & Inverse Weekly Recap: Massive Outflows, Crypto Gains, and Tech Dispersion

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Weekly Channel Summary

The Leveraged & Inverse ETF channel currently oversees a Total AUM of $143B across 578 products managed by 26 distinct issuers. Activity this past week was characterized by significant capital flight, with the channel experiencing a 5-Day Flow of -$5.39B. This rapid weekly shedding of assets has dragged the YTD Flow further into the red at -$1.48B, compounding a broader longer-term trend reflected in the 1-Year Flow of -$14.27B.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

This week showcased intense dispersion and volatility across both sector-specific and thematic segments. Performance leaders were predominantly found in the digital asset space and disruptive technologies, with Digital Asset: Cryptocurrency – Bitcoin tracking ETFs leading the channel with a 9.12% gain. Thematic Natural Resources (9.10%) and Disruptive Tech (8.10%) also delivered outsized positive returns. Conversely, the “action” on the downside was concentrated in energy sectors, where Commodity: Focused – Energy fell -5.97% and Equity: Sector – Energy dropped -3.91%. The massive divergence highlights traders aggressively repositioning across high-beta, volatile sectors rather than core equities.

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance

The single best-performing product this week was the SOXL (Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF), roaring back with a 44.81% weekly surge. Unsurprisingly, the inverse side of that trade yielded the steepest losses, making the SOXS (Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X ETF) the worst performer at -34.18%, closely followed by the TSXD (Direxion Daily Semiconductors Top 5 Bear 2X ETF) which shed -21.31%.

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
SOXL Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF 44.81%
KORU Direxion Daily MSCI South Korea Bull 3X ETF 39.93%
TSXU Direxion Daily Semiconductors Top 5 Bull 2X ETF 24.97%
TXXS 21Shares 2x Long Sui ETF 23.52%
USD ProShares Ultra Semiconductors 22.73%
Bottom Performers
SOXS Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X ETF -34.18%
TSXD Direxion Daily Semiconductors Top 5 Bear 2X ETF -21.31%
EDZ Direxion Daily MSCI Emerging Markets Bear 3X ETF -19.83%
SSG Proshares Ultrashort Semiconductors -19.51%
BTCZ T-Rex 2X Inverse Bitcoin Daily Target ETF -17.30%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

As a whole, the channel experienced widespread contraction, shedding a net -$5,525M in aggregate across all broad composites. However, dissecting the flows by implementation reveals where traders placed their contrarian bets. The Inverse: 3x implementation category stood out, hauling in a massive $1,262M against its $6,973.7M AUM, alongside another significant inflow vector into the Inverse: 2x category, which gathered $189M. Conversely, the largest outflow category on a composite basis was Leverage | Inverse – Equity, which saw an aggressive exodus of -$4,453M from its $104,963M base.

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM 5 Day 30 Day 90 Day YTD 1 Year
Leverage | Inverse – Crypto 22 $3,596M ($2M) $197M $968M $907M $4,909M
Leverage | Inverse – Fixed Income 15 $3,729M ($109M) $97M ($751M) ($877M) ($1,502M)
Leverage | Inverse – Commodity 16 $5,883M ($126M) $651M $2,038M $2,284M $3,239M
Leverage | Inverse – Single Stock 310 $24,668M ($836M) $106M $4,339M $3,453M $6,189M
Leverage | Inverse – Equity 192 $104,963M ($4,453M) ($3,331M) ($4,548M) ($7,426M) ($27,286M)

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow

In absolute dollar terms, the SOXS was the primary beneficiary of incoming capital, collecting an eye-popping $830M to reflect a massive surge into bearish semiconductor bets. On the reverse side, its bull counterpart, the SOXL, suffered catastrophic withdrawals, losing -$4,073M. The TQQQ was the second-largest bleeder, shedding -$894M as traders pulled back from levered long tech exposure.

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
SOXS Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X ETF $830M
SQQQ ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ $252M
SPXL Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 3X ETF $190M
QID ProShares UltraShort QQQ $114M
SCO ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil $96M
Outflows
SOXL Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF ($4,073M)
TQQQ ProShares UltraPro QQQ ($894M)
SH ProShares Short S&P500 ($179M)
PSQ ProShares Short QQQ ($163M)
AGQ ProShares Ultra Silver ($126M)

Issuer League Table Update

The league tables continue to be heavily concentrated at the top. ProShares maintains pole position, capturing 47.15% of the total market share, followed by Direxion which commands 34.97%. However, both titans faced a difficult flow environment this week. With almost all leading brands suffering net redemptions, niche player Teucrium managed to gather the most weekly inflows, adding $4M. On the other end of the spectrum, Direxion endured the most extreme pressure, bleeding -$3,457M over the past five days.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM AUM Market Share
ProShares 107 $67.45B 47.15%
Direxion 118 $50.03B 34.97%
GraniteShares 39 $6.81B 4.76%
REX Microsectors 19 $6.54B 4.57%
Tradr 63 $3.73B 2.61%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Brand 5-Day Flow
Inflows
Teucrium $4M
Simplify $0M
DB $0M
Outflows
Direxion -$3,457M
ProShares -$1,092M
GraniteShares -$503M

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.