UST vs. SQQQ

Last updated Apr 1, 2026

Compare and contrast key facts about ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury (UST) and ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ (SQQQ).

UST and SQQQ are both exchange-traded funds (ETFs), meaning they are traded on stock exchanges and can be bought and sold throughout the day. UST is a passively managed fund by ProShares that tracks the performance of the Barclays Capital U.S. 7-10 Year Treasury Index (200%). It was launched on Jan 19, 2010. SQQQ is a passively managed fund by ProShares that tracks the performance of the NASDAQ-100 Index (-300%). It was launched on Feb 9, 2010. Both UST and SQQQ are passive ETFs, meaning that they are not actively managed but aim to replicate the performance of the underlying index as closely as possible.

Performance

UST vs. SQQQ - Performance Comparison

The chart below illustrates the hypothetical performance of a $10,000 investment in ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury (UST) and ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ (SQQQ). The values are adjusted to include any dividend payments, if applicable.

UST vs. SQQQ - Yearly Performance Comparison

	2026 (YTD)	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
UST ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury	-1.20%	10.26%	-6.19%	0.16%	-30.19%	-7.81%	18.83%	13.34%	-1.09%	3.21%
SQQQ ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ	18.46%	-53.05%	-49.79%	-73.61%	82.40%	-60.87%	-86.40%	-65.92%	-20.83%	-58.67%

Returns By Period

In the year-to-date period, UST achieves a -1.20% return, which is significantly lower than SQQQ's 18.46% return. Over the past 10 years, UST has outperformed SQQQ with an annualized return of -1.81%, while SQQQ has yielded a comparatively lower -52.52% annualized return.

UST

• 1D: 0.28%
• 1M: -4.94%
• YTD: -1.20%
• 6M: -0.56%
• 1Y: 3.14%
• 3Y*: -1.11%
• 5Y*: -5.94%
• 10Y*: -1.81%

SQQQ

• 1D: -9.99%
• 1M: 14.53%
• YTD: 18.46%
• 6M: 9.00%
• 1Y: -55.48%
• 3Y*: -48.73%
• 5Y*: -42.26%
• 10Y*: -52.52%

*Multi-year figures are annualized to reflect compound growth (CAGR)

UST vs. SQQQ - Expense Ratio Comparison

Both UST and SQQQ have an expense ratio of 0.95%.

UST

ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury

SQQQ

ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ

Return for Risk

UST vs. SQQQ — Risk / Return Rank

Compare risk-adjusted metric ranks to identify better-performing investments over the past 12 months.

UST

UST Risk / Return Rank: 20
UST Sharpe Ratio Rank: 20
UST Sortino Ratio Rank: 19
UST Omega Ratio Rank: 18
UST Calmar Ratio Rank: 23
UST Martin Ratio Rank: 20

SQQQ

SQQQ Risk / Return Rank: 2
SQQQ Sharpe Ratio Rank: 1
SQQQ Sortino Ratio Rank: 1
SQQQ Omega Ratio Rank: 1
SQQQ Calmar Ratio Rank: 2
SQQQ Martin Ratio Rank: 6

The rank (0–100) shows how this investment's returns compare to the risk taken. Higher = better. Based on the past 12 months of data, combining Sharpe, Sortino, and other metrics used by quantitative funds and institutional investors.

UST vs. SQQQ - Risk-Adjusted Trends Comparison

This table presents a comparison of risk-adjusted performance metrics for ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury (UST) and ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ (SQQQ). Risk-adjusted metrics are performance indicators that assess an investment's returns in relation to its risk, enabling a more accurate comparison of different investment options.

	UST	SQQQ	Difference
Sharpe ratio Return per unit of total volatility	0.28	-0.83	+1.11
Sortino ratio Return per unit of downside risk	0.46	-1.11	+1.58
Omega ratio Gain probability vs. loss probability	1.06	0.85	+0.21
Calmar ratio Return relative to maximum drawdown	0.44	-0.74	+1.17
Martin ratio Return relative to average drawdown	1.00	-0.85	+1.85
Data is calculated on a 1-year rolling basis and updated daily. The trend shows the change in the indicator over the past month.

UST vs. SQQQ - Sharpe Ratio Comparison

The current UST Sharpe Ratio is 0.28, which is higher than the SQQQ Sharpe Ratio of -0.83. The chart below compares the historical Sharpe Ratios of UST and SQQQ, offering insights into how both investments have performed under varying market conditions. These values are calculated using daily returns over the previous 12 months.

Sharpe Ratios by Period

	UST	SQQQ	Difference
Sharpe Ratio (1Y) Calculated over the trailing 1-year period	0.28	-0.83	+1.11
Sharpe Ratio (5Y) Calculated over the trailing 5-year period	-0.39	-0.64	+0.25
Sharpe Ratio (10Y) Calculated over the trailing 10-year period	-0.14	-0.80	+0.66
Sharpe Ratio (All Time) Calculated using the full available price history	0.20	-0.84	+1.05

Correlation

The correlation between UST and SQQQ is 0.19, which is considered to be low. This implies their price changes are not closely related. A low correlation is generally favorable for portfolio diversification, as it helps to reduce overall risk by spreading it across multiple assets with different performance patterns.

Dividends

UST vs. SQQQ - Dividend Comparison

UST's dividend yield for the trailing twelve months is around 3.43%, less than SQQQ's 5.77% yield.

	TTM	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
UST ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury	3.43%	3.65%	4.09%	3.49%	0.47%	0.27%	0.53%	1.42%	1.71%	0.84%	0.64%	0.75%
SQQQ ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ	5.77%	9.36%	10.23%	8.01%	0.28%	0.00%	2.15%	2.92%	1.47%	0.14%	0.00%	0.00%

Drawdowns

UST vs. SQQQ - Drawdown Comparison

The maximum UST drawdown since its inception was -47.99%, smaller than the maximum SQQQ drawdown of -100.00%. Use the drawdown chart below to compare losses from any high point for UST and SQQQ.

Drawdown Indicators

	UST	SQQQ	Difference
Max Drawdown Largest peak-to-trough decline	-47.99%	-100.00%	+52.01%
Max Drawdown (1Y) Largest decline over 1 year	-8.44%	-75.23%	+66.79%
Max Drawdown (5Y) Largest decline over 5 years	-43.97%	-95.36%	+51.39%
Max Drawdown (10Y) Largest decline over 10 years	-47.99%	-99.96%	+51.97%
Current Drawdown Current decline from peak	-37.26%	-100.00%	+62.74%
Average Drawdown Average peak-to-trough decline	-14.88%	-92.32%	+77.44%
Ulcer Index Depth and duration of drawdowns from previous peaks	3.68%	65.25%	-61.57%

Volatility

UST vs. SQQQ - Volatility Comparison

The current volatility for ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury (UST) is 3.75%, while ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ (SQQQ) has a volatility of 19.67%. This indicates that UST experiences smaller price fluctuations and is considered to be less risky than SQQQ based on this measure. The chart below showcases a comparison of their rolling one-month volatility.

Volatility by Period

	UST	SQQQ	Difference
Volatility (1M) Calculated over the trailing 1-month period	3.75%	19.67%	-15.92%
Volatility (6M) Calculated over the trailing 6-month period	6.39%	38.04%	-31.65%
Volatility (1Y) Calculated over the trailing 1-year period	11.29%	67.28%	-55.99%
Volatility (5Y) Calculated over the trailing 5-year period, annualized	15.46%	66.67%	-51.21%
Volatility (10Y) Calculated over the trailing 10-year period, annualized	13.19%	65.97%	-52.78%