SSO vs SOXL: Leveraging the Market or Leveraging Momentum

ProShares Ultra S&P500 (SSO) and Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL) both use daily leverage resets, but SOXL targets triple exposure to semiconductors while SSO delivers double exposure to the entire S&P 500—resulting in dramatically different risk and sector profiles.

Both SSO and SOXL are leveraged exchange-traded funds designed for tactical traders who want amplified exposure to equity markets over very short periods. SSO magnifies daily S&P 500 moves twofold, offering broad-market leverage, while SOXL seeks three-times the daily performance of the NYSE Semiconductor Index, zeroing in on the volatile semiconductor sector. Here’s how they compare on cost, recent returns, risk, and portfolio makeup.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year weekly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months.

Costs are nearly identical, with SOXL charging just 0.01 percentage points more than SSO. SSO’s yield is notably higher, so it may appeal more to those seeking a modest income component along with leverage.

Performance & risk comparison

What's inside

SOXL delivers 3x daily exposure to the NYSE Semiconductor Index, resulting in a portfolio that is 100% technology with just 44 holdings as of 2025. Its largest positions include Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), each accounting for less than 2% of assets. The fund has existed for nearly 16 years and is designed for short-term trading, with a daily leverage reset that can cause returns to diverge from the index over longer periods.

In contrast, SSO gives 2x daily leveraged exposure to the full S&P 500, making it more diversified across sectors—though still tech-heavy, with technology at 31%, cash and others at 30%, and financial services at 9%. Its top holdings include Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft, each with slightly larger portfolio weights than SOXL’s top names. Both funds reset leverage daily, which introduces compounding effects and risk of path-dependent losses.

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What this means for investors

Leveraged ETFs often behave exactly as designed, which is why they surprise investors who focus on direction but underestimate volatility.SSO and SOXL both reset leverage daily, but the experience of holding them diverges almost immediately because they amplify very different kinds of risk.

SSO applies leverage to the entire S&P 500, spreading daily gains and losses across hundreds of companies and multiple sectors. That breadth dampens the impact of any single shock, so performance tends to hinge on whether the broader market is trending rather than chopping sideways. SOXL layers leverage on top of an already volatile semiconductor index, concentrating exposure in a small group of highly cyclical stocks. Sharp rallies can produce dramatic gains, but swings and reversals accelerate decay just as quickly, even over short holding windows.

For investors, the distinction is not about leverage alone but what that leverage is magnifying. SSO magnifies market direction and rewards sustained trends. SOXL magnifies both direction and volatility, which makes timing and discipline far more visible in its returns. At its core, the choice is whether leverage is meant to follow the market’s direction or to press harder on a single, volatile conviction.

Glossary

Leveraged ETF: An exchange-traded fund using financial derivatives to amplify daily returns, often by 2x or 3x the underlying index.
Daily leverage reset: The process of rebalancing a leveraged ETF each day to maintain its target leverage ratio.
Expense ratio: The annual fee, as a percentage of assets, that a fund charges to cover operating costs.
Dividend yield: The annual dividends paid by a fund, expressed as a percentage of its current price.
Beta: A measure of an investment's volatility compared to the overall market, typically the S&P 500.
Max drawdown: The largest percentage drop from a fund's peak value to its lowest point over a specific period.
AUM (Assets Under Management): The total market value of all assets managed by a fund.
NYSE Semiconductor Index: A stock market index tracking major U.S.-listed semiconductor companies.
Compounding effects: The impact of daily returns accumulating over time, which can cause leveraged ETF performance to diverge from the underlying index.
Path-dependent losses: Losses that depend on the sequence of returns, especially relevant for leveraged funds due to daily resets.

Eric Trie has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.