Reinvested holders of YieldMax's Nasdaq option fund were up 21.8%, trailing the Nasdaq-100 fund by 3.7 percentage points

A holder who reinvested every check in YieldMax's fund that sells same-day call options on the Nasdaq-100, DQDTY, was up 21.8% over the past year, through Friday, September 25. Invesco's fund that tracks the Nasdaq-100, AQQQ, returned 25.5% with dividends reinvested, so the option fund trailed by 3.7 percentage points.

The S&P 500 version almost matched its index fund. YieldMax's fund that sells the same kind of same-day calls on the S&P 500, DSDTY, returned 17.8%, and State Street's fund that tracks the S&P 500, ASPY, returned 17.9%. The gap was 0.1 percentage point.

The share price fell even though a reinvested holder was up. DQDTY was down 13.4%, and DSDTY was down 10.2%, while AQQQ's shares rose 24.9%.

YieldMax says selling the same-day calls caps the gain if the index rises, and that a distribution typically lowers the fund's value by the amount of the check. The checks more than covered those price drops.

YieldMax paid $0.2226 a share on Thursday, September 24, 15% more than the prior week's $0.1936, and put the rate on that payment at 28.93%. The check is still 27% below the $0.3042 declared on Tuesday, August 4, when the rate was 39.95%.

YieldMax estimates that the distribution declared on Tuesday, September 22, is entirely a return of capital, which the firm describes as the investor's own capital coming back, not income. It put that estimate at 100% for DQDTY.

Those estimates swing, so one week is not a pattern. YieldMax put the same day's distribution on DSDTY at 0% return of capital and 100% income. The week before, declared Tuesday, September 15, it estimated that check as 100% return of capital.

The August 4 check on DQDTY was estimated at 0% return of capital. These figures are estimates, and the tax form settles them later.

YieldMax's 30-day SEC yield, for the 30 days ended Monday, August 31, was -0.86% for DQDTY and -0.47% for DSDTY. The firm says that figure counts net investment income and leaves option income out. A negative number means that income, after costs, was below zero.

The 28.93% rate is one weekly check, multiplied out for a year and divided by the fund's value. It includes the cash from the options, and it assumes the check never changes. The payments are not guaranteed.

The last 52 weekly checks, ending with Thursday's payment, came to $14.02 a share. Against Friday's closing price, that is a 35.8% yield on what was paid. The 28.93% rate uses only the latest check.

DQDTY holds $27.4 million. YieldMax's fund that sells call options on Strategy Inc., CMSTY, left a reinvested holder down 46.8% on that same measure.

The Nasdaq version trailed its index fund by 3.7 percentage points, the S&P version trailed by 0.1, and YieldMax estimates that this week's Nasdaq check was the holder's own money coming back.