Best-Performing Leveraged ETFs of Last Week

Last week was marked by the Iran war–driven market volatility. The S&P 500 lost about 1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1%, the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.4%, and the Russell 2000 slipped 0.9%. Let’s highlight the key events of the week.

U.S. Economic Growth Slows Sharply in Fourth Quarter

The U.S. economy expanded at a much weaker-than-expected pace in the fourth quarter, growing at an annual rate of 0.7% from October through December, according to the Commerce Department’s revised estimate.

The figure marked a sharp slowdown from 4.4% growth in the third quarter and 3.8% in the second, and was significantly lower than the government’s initial estimate of 1.4%. Economists had expected the revision to show stronger growth instead of a downgrade, per AP, as quoted on Yahoo Finance.

For the full year 2025, the economy grew 2.1%, slightly below the initial estimate of 2.2%. The pace also slowed compared with 2.8% growth in 2024 and 2.9% in 2023, indicating a gradual cooling in economic momentum.

Consumer Spending and Investment Ease

Consumer spending, the largest component of the economy, rose at a 2% annual pace in the fourth quarter, slowing from 3.5% growth in the third quarter and below the earlier estimate of 2.4%, per the above-mentioned source.

Business investment excluding housing increased at a 2.2% rate, likely supported by spending on artificial intelligence technologies. However, this was weaker than the 3.2% growth recorded in the previous quarter and below the 3.7% increase initially estimated.

Iran Conflict Hurts Consumer Sentiment

Rising geopolitical tensions due to the Iran war and higher fuel costs have also affected consumer confidence. A preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment showed the gauge falling to 55.5 in March, down 1.9% from February and below last year’s level of 57.

The reading also came in below economists’ expectations of 54.8, marking the lowest level so far this year, as quoted on Yahoo Finance. The survey, conducted between Feb. 17 and March 9, was partially completed before U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran began.

Top-Performing Leveraged ETFs in Focus

Against this backdrop, the following leveraged ETFs emerged as the top performers last week.

Tradr 2X Long SNDK Daily ETF SNXX – Up 59.7%

SanDisk Corp SNDK gained 27.7% last week. The stock has surged 206% in three months and 1,194% over the past year as AI-driven NAND demand strengthens the storage market. SNDK’s solid-state drive (SSD) revenue jumped 64% sequentially in fiscal Q2, with another increase expected in fiscal Q3.

Tradr 2X Long NVTS Daily ETF NVTX – Up 50.6%

Navitas Semiconductor Corp NVTS jumped 25.2% last week.Investors are growing optimistic about the company’s AI and infrastructure product opportunities.Last month, the company told investors to expect sequential revenue growth this year, as cited in a media report.

Leverage Shares 2X Long NIO Daily ETF NIOG – Up 47.9%

Nio shares added over 22% last week. Overseas expansion are improved margins are among the factors attracting investors to the stock.

GraniteShares 2x Long MARA Daily ETF MRAL – Up 32.9%

MARA Holdings (MARA) shares gained about 15% last week.MARA Holdings operates as a digital asset technology company that mines the bitcoin digital asset in the United States. Bitcoin prices climbed 3.3% last week, despite the Iran war-led market volatility. This explains the rally in MARA shares.

Direxion Daily MU Bull 2X ETF MUU – Up 37.2%

Micron Technology (MU) gained about 17% last week. Strong demand for DRAM and NAND memory continues to support Micron’s growth momentum.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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