The Shifting Landscape of Leveraged Single Stock ETFs: Down the Cap Scale

A chart making the rounds (Strategas/ETF Action/Bloomberg) plots launch date (x-axis) against the underlying stock’s market cap (y-axis, log scale) for leveraged long single-stock ETFs. The dots tell a clear story: Early launches clustered in mega-caps (Apple, Nvidia, etc.). Newer launches are creeping steadily into small-cap territory—some tied to companies barely above $1–2B in market value. In other words, the product set has migrated from ~$3T behemoths to ~$1B names.

Source: Strategas/ETF Action/Bloomberg

Quick context: who’s big today

Despite the down-cap trend in new launches, assets are still concentrated in a handful of liquid, headline names. As of now, the five largest levered single-stock ETFs by AUM include: TSLL, NVDL, MSTU, CONL, and PTIR. These funds anchor the category and remain the primary liquidity hubs even as the launch pipeline explores smaller issuers.

The Largest by AUM: Spotlight

TSLL (Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 2X Shares): With approximately $8 billion in assets under management (AUM), TSLL dominates the space by offering double-leveraged daily exposure to Tesla stock.

NVDL (GraniteShares 2x Long NVDA Daily ETF): Tracks Nvidia with about $4.3 billion in AUM, offering the same 2x daily leverage to one of the market’s leading semiconductor names.

MSTU (T-Rex 2X Long MSTR Daily Target ETF): Delivers 2x to MicroStrategy and manages over $1 billion, reflecting appetite around crypto-exposed equities.

CONL (GraniteShares 2x Long COIN Daily ETF): Follows Coinbase, currently holding over $740 million, showing the reach of leveraged products into crypto-related mid caps.

PTIR (GraniteShares 2x Long PLTR Daily ETF): Offers 2x daily returns to Palantir, with roughly $770 million in AUM, showing even smaller tech players are now viable ETF targets.

Key takeaways from the chart

Launch chronology matters. The left side of the x-axis (2022–2023) is packed with mega-cap underlyings; the right side (late-2024 into 2025) shows a visible march into mid- and small-caps.

Category breadth vs. depth. There are many products but only a few with meaningful AUM. The asset base is wide but shallow, which heightens dispersion in trading quality across tickers.

Volatility hunting. Issuers appear to be targeting names with higher realized volatility and social attention, even if the companies are smaller, to attract traders who want potent daily moves.

Bottom Line: New Era for Leveraged ETFs

Leveraged single-stock ETFs now span the full spectrum, from $3 trillion mega-caps to $1 billion small caps. This shift opens new speculative opportunities but also magnifies risk for investors—especially in less liquid, more volatile names. As ETF providers innovate, diligence becomes ever more critical.

Quickly compare any Leveraged Single Stock ETF side by side with our ETF Compare Tool