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4 Winning Single-Stock Leveraged ETF Areas of First Nine Months of 2026
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Key Takeaways
Geopolitical tensions, Fed policy and AI reshaped the market landscape in 2026.
Moderna, Micron, Intel and AMD fueled outsized gains in leveraged ETFs.
Single-stock leveraged ETFs amplified gains as AI and biotech momentum accelerated.
The year 2026 has been all about heightened geopolitical tensions due to the U.S.-Iran war and the AI boom, as well as risks associated with its investments and evolution. The year began with strong optimism. The sentiment has shifted sharply due to the Iran war in Q1. Multiple efforts for long-standing diplomacy have offered little support so far.
Geopolitical Shock Ruled Q1: The Iran Conflict
The biggest market-moving catalyst this year has been the war involving Iran. The United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, with President Donald Trump saying that the operation was aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear program and weakening its current regime.
What was initially expected to be a short conflict has turned into a prolonged disruption, particularly hitting crucial global energy supply routes like the Strait of Hormuz. The resulting oil shock has rattled markets, fueled inflation concerns and stoked fears of stagflation.
Fed Rate Hike in September
At the start of the year, the Federal Reserve paused rate cuts due to resilient consumer spending and a stable labor market. However, renewed inflationary fears amid geopolitical shocks have complicated the outlook.
After several months of seesawing treasury yields, the Fed increased its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points in mid September, marking its first rate hike in three years. The Fed’s updated Summary of Economic Projections points to an additional rate hike in 2026 (read: 4 Bond ETFs to Gain from Fed Rate Hike).
AI Trade: Ups and Downs
The once-dominant AI-driven rally cooled significantly in Q1. Rising bond yields pressured high valuations, while profit-taking and downbeat sentiment toward growth sectors like technology reduced its role as a safe haven.
Uncertainty around AI payoffs, combined with concerns about heavy capital spending rising from global competition, has weighed on the "Magnificent Seven" stocks too.
Apart from payoff concerns and rising treasury yields, in early 2026, software stocks sold off sharply on fears that AI agents would cannibalize traditional seat-based licenses. The core concern: if AI agents do the work, fewer human users need logins— eroding the per-seat subscription revenue that underpins much of the SaaS sector.
The Dow Jones U.S. Software Index, a benchmark for the U.S. software sector fell about 36% from record high on Oct. 28, 2025 to Apr, 10, 2026. However, most concerns subsided as the year progressed, as evident from the 54% gain in Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETFCHAT.
Strong earnings from Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) reassured investors that AI investment remains robust. Hyperscalers now expect to spend $720-$745 billion on capital projects in 2026.
Winning ETF Areas
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few of the best-performing single-stock leveraged ETFs over the first nine months of 2026.
Moderna-Leveraged ETFs
Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MRNA ETF (MRNX - Free Report) surged about 640% so far this year (as of Sept. 25, 2026) while the stock Moderna (MRNA - Free Report) itself skyrocketed about 544.5%. The biotech company saw its shares surge about 140% in August after the company and Merck announced on Aug. 19 that their experimental personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, intismeran, met its primary goals in a landmark Phase 3 clinical trial.
The combination of the vaccine with Merck’s immunotherapy drug Keytruda delayed cancer recurrence and prevented disease from spreading in high-risk patients. The vaccine success boosted the stock and ETF (read: Best-Performing Leveraged ETFs of August).
Micron-Heavy ETFs
Direxion Daily MU Bull 2X ETF (MUU - Free Report) rose 521.5% in the year-to-date frame. Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) stock advanced about 243.1% during this timeframe.
Micron’s surge this year is primarily driven by an AI-driven memory shortage story rather than just a broader semiconductor rally. Demand for HBM, server DRAM, and NAND storage has risen sharply as hyperscalers expand AI data centers, while new supply is likely to take years to arrive (read: What Lies Ahead of DRAM ETF as Memory Crisis May Intensify in 2027?).
Intel-Heavy ETFs
Direxion Daily INTC Bull 2X ETF (LINT - Free Report) surged 442.3% so far this year while Intel Corp. (INTC - Free Report) shares gained about 212% so far this year.
Intel’s shares rallied this year due to cyclical recovery, AI-driven demand, and a credible turnaround in its foundry business under CEO Lip???Bu Tan. The company is benefiting from “agentic AI” workloads and hyperscaler capex cycles, with Xeon 6 CPUs and Gaudi AI accelerators seeing strong adoption, per Reuters.
Advanced Micro Devices-Heavy ETFs
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Free Report) shares added 182.2% so far this year while Direxion Daily AMD Bull 2X ETF (AMUU - Free Report) shares gained about 403%.
AMD’s MI300 and next-generation MI350 series have gained traction with hyperscalers and enterprise AI buyers as alternatives to NVIDIA’s GPUs. The company has joined an elite group of U.S. chipmakers after its market capitalization crossed $1 trillion for the first time on Sept. 21, 2026.
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4 Winning Single-Stock Leveraged ETF Areas of First Nine Months of 2026
Key Takeaways
The year 2026 has been all about heightened geopolitical tensions due to the U.S.-Iran war and the AI boom, as well as risks associated with its investments and evolution. The year began with strong optimism. The sentiment has shifted sharply due to the Iran war in Q1. Multiple efforts for long-standing diplomacy have offered little support so far.
Geopolitical Shock Ruled Q1: The Iran Conflict
The biggest market-moving catalyst this year has been the war involving Iran. The United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, with President Donald Trump saying that the operation was aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear program and weakening its current regime.
What was initially expected to be a short conflict has turned into a prolonged disruption, particularly hitting crucial global energy supply routes like the Strait of Hormuz. The resulting oil shock has rattled markets, fueled inflation concerns and stoked fears of stagflation.
Fed Rate Hike in September
At the start of the year, the Federal Reserve paused rate cuts due to resilient consumer spending and a stable labor market. However, renewed inflationary fears amid geopolitical shocks have complicated the outlook.
After several months of seesawing treasury yields, the Fed increased its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points in mid September, marking its first rate hike in three years. The Fed’s updated Summary of Economic Projections points to an additional rate hike in 2026 (read: 4 Bond ETFs to Gain from Fed Rate Hike).
AI Trade: Ups and Downs
The once-dominant AI-driven rally cooled significantly in Q1. Rising bond yields pressured high valuations, while profit-taking and downbeat sentiment toward growth sectors like technology reduced its role as a safe haven.
Uncertainty around AI payoffs, combined with concerns about heavy capital spending rising from global competition, has weighed on the "Magnificent Seven" stocks too.
Apart from payoff concerns and rising treasury yields, in early 2026, software stocks sold off sharply on fears that AI agents would cannibalize traditional seat-based licenses. The core concern: if AI agents do the work, fewer human users need logins— eroding the per-seat subscription revenue that underpins much of the SaaS sector.
The Dow Jones U.S. Software Index, a benchmark for the U.S. software sector fell about 36% from record high on Oct. 28, 2025 to Apr, 10, 2026. However, most concerns subsided as the year progressed, as evident from the 54% gain in Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF CHAT.
Strong earnings from Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) reassured investors that AI investment remains robust. Hyperscalers now expect to spend $720-$745 billion on capital projects in 2026.
Winning ETF Areas
Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few of the best-performing single-stock leveraged ETFs over the first nine months of 2026.
Moderna-Leveraged ETFs
Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MRNA ETF (MRNX - Free Report) surged about 640% so far this year (as of Sept. 25, 2026) while the stock Moderna (MRNA - Free Report) itself skyrocketed about 544.5%. The biotech company saw its shares surge about 140% in August after the company and Merck announced on Aug. 19 that their experimental personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine, intismeran, met its primary goals in a landmark Phase 3 clinical trial.
The combination of the vaccine with Merck’s immunotherapy drug Keytruda delayed cancer recurrence and prevented disease from spreading in high-risk patients. The vaccine success boosted the stock and ETF (read: Best-Performing Leveraged ETFs of August).
Micron-Heavy ETFs
Direxion Daily MU Bull 2X ETF (MUU - Free Report) rose 521.5% in the year-to-date frame. Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) stock advanced about 243.1% during this timeframe.
Micron’s surge this year is primarily driven by an AI-driven memory shortage story rather than just a broader semiconductor rally. Demand for HBM, server DRAM, and NAND storage has risen sharply as hyperscalers expand AI data centers, while new supply is likely to take years to arrive (read: What Lies Ahead of DRAM ETF as Memory Crisis May Intensify in 2027?).
Intel-Heavy ETFs
Direxion Daily INTC Bull 2X ETF (LINT - Free Report) surged 442.3% so far this year while Intel Corp. (INTC - Free Report) shares gained about 212% so far this year.
Intel’s shares rallied this year due to cyclical recovery, AI-driven demand, and a credible turnaround in its foundry business under CEO Lip???Bu Tan. The company is benefiting from “agentic AI” workloads and hyperscaler capex cycles, with Xeon 6 CPUs and Gaudi AI accelerators seeing strong adoption, per Reuters.
Advanced Micro Devices-Heavy ETFs
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Free Report) shares added 182.2% so far this year while Direxion Daily AMD Bull 2X ETF (AMUU - Free Report) shares gained about 403%.
AMD’s MI300 and next-generation MI350 series have gained traction with hyperscalers and enterprise AI buyers as alternatives to NVIDIA’s GPUs. The company has joined an elite group of U.S. chipmakers after its market capitalization crossed $1 trillion for the first time on Sept. 21, 2026.