For those not familiar—and there are apparently quite a few people who are not familiar, as yet—the YieldMax line of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) represents a new and very unusual potential investment opportunity. But with 43 such funds currently under the YieldMax umbrella, which ones are the most worth a closer look? We will take a run at answering just such a question with this list.
Discover the Best Stocks and Maximize Your Portfolio:
- See what stocks are receiving strong buy ratings from top-rated analysts.
- Filter, analyze, and streamline your search for investment opportunities with TipRanks’ Stock Screener.
First, some background: the YieldMax ETF is an exchange-traded fund that uses one or more securities as an investment vehicle, and also purchases Treasury bills to serve as a counterbalance. It works similarly to a covered-call ETF, and it pays far more regular dividends. Most of YieldMax’s ETFs pay on a monthly basis. Some pay even more frequently; more on that in a minute.
So, let’s take a look at some of the best that the YieldMax brand has to offer, with the top four YieldMax ETFs. Top is, of course, subjective, as the best thing about YieldMax funds is that they can line up with just about any investment thesis that someone cares to present.
MSTY, a Crypto Winner
MSTY is the ticker symbol for the YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF. It uses MicroStrategy (MSTR) as its base, which means it becomes a roundabout exposure to cryptocurrency. Given that cryptocurrency is experiencing something of a renaissance right now thanks to the new Trump administration, it has produced results in a very big way. Last month alone, it brought in $2.0216 in dividends, and that was the worst result it had seen in six months.
GDXY, for Hedging with Gold
GDXY is the ticker symbol for the YieldMax Gold Miners Option Income Strategy ETF. While its dividends are substantially lower than many other YieldMax funds—last month it produced a dividend of $0.5937 per share—it still represents an unusual proposition. It uses $GDX as its basis, the VanEck Gold Miners ETF. That means it uses gold miners as its primary basis, which offers a way to pursue substantial dividend income while getting a sort of hedge against inflation thanks to the gold mining components.
ULTY, a Diversification Play
ULTY is the ticker symbol for the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF. Unlike many other YieldMax funds, it uses an entire basket of ETFs and stocks as its basis. It top three holdings are the ProShares UltraPro QQQ fund (TQQQ), the Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 3X ETF (TNA) and Hims & Hers Health Inc. ordinary shares (HIMS). That level of diversity is impressive, and dividend performance is not spectacular, but noteworthy. Last month it posted $0.5369 per share in income.
YMAX, Paying Weekly
Finally, we have YMAX, the ticker symbol for the YieldMax Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs. The YMAX fund uses several YieldMax ETFs as its basis, and in addition, offers one very unexpected bonus. YMAX is one of seven YieldMax ETFs that pay dividends on a weekly basis. The payout is not particularly large; for the week of February 12, it paid out just $0.1503 per share. By way of comparison, however, dividend aristocrat Realty Income (O) paid $0.26 per share, and pays monthly. Thus, there is a clear case for YMAX here, particularly for income investors looking for regular payouts.
But Which Delivers the Best Results?
There are cases to make for each, certainly, and there are another nearly 40 funds waiting in the wings at YieldMax, each with their own compelling investment thesis to consider. But of these four, ULTY is the only one with a consensus analyst score of Strong Buy. It also has the lowest dividend payout among the four at $0.54 per share last month, and the second-highest expense ratio at 1.14%. MSTY has the highest dividend at $2.02 per share last month, and the lowest expense ratio of 0.99%.
