Best-Performing Leveraged ETF Areas of 2025

The year 2025 began with post-election optimism and expectations of a strong first quarter. Instead, markets were hit by the rise of low-cost AI initiatives from China, and its adverse impact on the U.S. Big Tech, Trump tariffs, sticky inflation, and persistently high interest rates. Stabilization in the market returned in the month of May after a tariff-led, turbulent April.

Market euphoria started to solidify from midyear, thanks to easing trade tensions. There have been three Fed rate cuts this year, with the action starting in September. That momentum faded suddenly when the longest U.S. government shutdown brought the fourth-quarter economic progress to a halt, and overvaluation concerns intensified in the AI space.

Still, with all those worries alongside, Wall Street has put up an upbeat show in 2025. SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY has jumped 16.6% in the year-to-date frame (as of Dec. 12, 2025). The Nasdaq-100-heavy ETF Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1   QQQ has surged 20.3% and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust DIA has advanced 14.5% in the year-to-date frame.

Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few winning leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) of this year.

Leveraged ETFs in Focus

Gold Miners

MicroSectors Gold Miners 3X Leveraged ETNs GDXU – Up 794.9%

Gold prices have surged to record highs this year, up over 60% year to date. Rising central bank buying, especially from nations like China and Russia, shifting focus away from the dollar amid U.S. debt concerns under President Trump and strong safe-haven demand throughout the year have kept the yellow metal glowing. Federal Reserve rate cuts, including recent December moves, a falling U.S. dollar and lower yields, also made non-yielding gold more attractive versus bonds.

Rocket Lab

Defiance Daily Target 2X Long RKLB ETF RKLX – Up 529.2%

Rocket Lab USA RKLB stock has gained over 146% year to date. A strong rally was fueled by NASA contracts, the GEOST acquisition, and the broader space sector excitement amid AI-satellite demand.

Micron

Direxion Daily MU Bull 2X Shares MUU – Up 408.3%

Micron Technology MU stock surged 176% so far this year. The surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for data centers and the robust pricing recovery for Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) has led to the stock rally amid industry-wide shortages.

Robinhood

Defiance Daily Target 2X Long HOOD ETF HOOX – Up 368.8%

Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD stock — which offers trading services in crypto, stocks, options, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), cash management — has skyrocketed 203% in the year-to-date frame. The rally stems from booming trading volumes in a bull market and retail investors’ fervor for tech stocks and crypto, creating solid revenues for the company.

South Korea

Direxion Daily MSCI South Korea Bull 3x Shares KORU – Up 336.2%

South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI climbed about 73% in 2025, thanks to the AI boom. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the charge amid heightened AI chip demand. Scrapping of tax-hike plans boosted sentiment further.

Meanwhile, since October last year, the BoK has cut rates by a cumulative 100 bps to boost economic growth, per Tradingeconomics.The central bank also revised its GDP growth forecast for 2025 to 1.0%, up from 0.9%, while the 2026 forecast was revised to 1.8% from 1.6%. 

D-Wave Quantum

Tradr 2X Long QBTS Daily ETF QBTX – Up 312.0%

D-Wave Quantum Inc QBTS has surged 171.6% so far this year. The rally was aided by broader enthusiasm for quantum technologies. Events like the Qubits Japan 2025 conference further highlighted commercial progress. Fast commercial adoption of quantum annealing solutions fueled investor excitement.

Leveraged Applovin

Tradr 2X Long APP Daily ETF APPX – Up 307.0%

Applovin Corp APP is up 96.2% this year, thanks to its AI-driven advertising platform AXON and strong financial results. Applovin has recorded 68% year-over-year revenue growth in its latest quarter. Increased buybacks and optimistic Q4 revenue guidance are the other positives. Inclusion on the S&P 500 index in September has further boosted investor interest. The stock sports a massively high forward P/E of 71.94X.

Silver

ProShares Ultra Silver AGQ – Up 272.4%

Silver is often considered an industrial metal. Rising industrial usage in solar panels, electric vehicles, electronics, and AI data centers has fueled demand. Plus, persistent supply shortages have now been boosting silver prices. iShares Silver Trust SLV has surged 108% so far this year (read: Will 2026 Be a Year of Silver & Copper ETFs?).

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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