MSTY vs PLTY ETF Comparison

Compare MSTY and PLTY across fund costs, diversification, holdings, performance, income, risk and current AlgovestIQ evidence.

Market data as of Sep 9, 2026 market close· Fund characteristics as of Sep 9, 2026
MSTY
YieldMax
vs
PLTY
YieldMax
MSTY
YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF
Issuer
YieldMax
Fund type
Alternatives
Index
-
Inception
2024-02-21
PLTY
YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF
Issuer
YieldMax
Fund type
Alternatives
Index
-
Inception
2024-10-07

What is the main difference between MSTY and PLTY?

MSTY is YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF, while PLTY is YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF. MSTY is tied to Alternatives; PLTY is tied to Alternatives. MSTY is broader by holdings count, with 26 positions versus 0 for PLTY. MSTY has the lower expense ratio in the current fund profile.

Expense ratio
MSTY
1.03%
PLTY
1.07%
Lower annual fund costMSTY
Holdings
MSTY
26
PLTY
0
Broader reported basketMSTY
1Y return
MSTY
-79.3%
PLTY
-
Trailing performance
Annualized volatility
MSTY
70.4%
PLTY
53.6%
Lower realized volatilityPLTY
MetricMSTYPLTYType
Expense ratio1.03%1.07%Fund
Assets under management$1.0B$378MFund
Holdings260Fund
Average volume754,695101,456Fund
Underlying exposureAlternativesAlternativesFund
1Y return-79.3%-Performance
YTD return-45.7%-Performance
Annualized volatility70.4%53.6%Risk
Max drawdown-85.8%-60.8%Risk
Beta2.731.75Risk
Sharpe ratio-1.92-0.82Risk
Sortino ratio-3.14-1.33Risk
AIQ Score48/10055/100AlgovestIQ
AIQ Edge Score3/106/10AlgovestIQ
Momentum71/100-AlgovestIQ
Risk Resilience0/10079/100AlgovestIQ

AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison

YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF vs YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF

Data as of Sep 9, 2026· market close· Coverage 52/66 fields· Moderate confidence
AIQ VerdictCompetitiveAIQ Comparison Conviction 6/10

PLTY leads

PLTY leads by 7 AIQ points, primarily on Risk Resilience.

Competitive: 2 of 2 evidence groups support PLTY.

Evidence agreement: 2 of 2
MSTY

YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF

AIQ Score
48/100
AIQ Edge Score
3/10
PLTY

YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF

Leads
AIQ Score
55/100
AIQ Edge Score
6/10

The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors PLTY over MSTY, 55 versus 48 as of Sep 9, 2026. PLTY's advantage is driven primarily by stronger risk resilience, while MSTY holds the stronger quality profile. 2 of 2 covered evidence groups favor PLTY today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability.

Compare YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF and YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF across performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, drawdown, volatility and the Algovestiq AIQ Score.

Performance over time

Price-return comparison for both ETFs using available daily close history.

MSTY
-88.3%
PLTY
-30.8%

Total return comparison

Growth of $10,000

MSTY $1,174 · PLTY $6,924

Based on available close-price history. Distribution reinvestment is not added unless already reflected in the source series.

Compare MSTY and PLTY against another ticker

Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.

Basic: 2 symbols·Explorer: 3 symbols·Pro and Premium: 5 symbols·Your limit: 2

AIQ Factor Divergence

Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.

MSTY advantage
0
PLTY advantage
  • Risk Resilience0 vs 79
    PLTY +79
  • Quality53 vs 43
    MSTY +10

2 of 2 evidence groups favor PLTY. PLTY’s edge is concentrated in risk resilience; MSTY keeps a meaningful quality edge.

What changed since the last close

Latest scored session 2026-09-07, compared against the prior scored session 2026-09-06.

MSTY0 AIQ

No factor moved materially.

No new signals fired.

PLTY+5 AIQ

Largest factor move: Quality +7

No new signals fired.

PLTY's lead widened by 5 AIQ points in the latest snapshot.

Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — MSTY and PLTY both carry a full feed there.

The central trade-off

PLTY (YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF): the stronger current systematic profile, led by risk resilience.

MSTY (YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF): the counter-case, on quality.

Which one fits your objective

The same two names rank differently depending on what you are optimizing for. All six reads are shown at once — none of them is hidden behind a toggle.

Balanced

PLTY

PLTY on the overall AIQ Score, which weights Quality and Value most heavily.

Growth

Even

Growth figures are not covered for both names.

Value

Even

The two are level on Value.

Momentum

Even

The two are level on Momentum.

Lower downside

PLTY

PLTY on Risk Resilience, by 79 points.

Analyst upside

Even

Analyst targets are level or not covered for both names.

Fund facts, side by side

Two funds tracking overlapping universes are separated by cost and risk far more than by holdings. Those lead here.

MeasureMSTYPLTYWhy it matters
Expense ratio1.03%1.07%Lower is better — it compounds against you every year you hold.
Assets under management$1.0B$378MLarger funds generally carry tighter spreads.
Holdings260More holdings means broader diversification, not better returns.
Average volume754,695101,456Liquidity — matters most if you trade size.
Annualized volatility70.4%53.6%Lower is a steadier ride for the same exposure.
Max drawdown-85.8%-60.8%The worst peak-to-trough loss on record for the fund.
Sharpe ratio-1.92-0.82Return per unit of risk. Higher is better.
Beta2.731.75Sensitivity to the broad market. Neither direction is better — it depends on the role in your portfolio.

Where the exposure actually sits

Sector exposure for each fund, ordered by the size of the difference.

Cash & Others100.0% vs 100.0%
MSTYPLTY

Weighted holdings overlap is not available for this pair. Sector exposure above is a related but different measure — it says how much of each fund sits in the same parts of the market, not how much of the same securities they hold.

ETF comparison questions

Short answers to the fund-specific questions behind this comparison.

Which ETF is more diversified, MSTY or PLTY?

MSTY currently has more reported holdings, with 26 positions versus 0.

Which has the lower expense ratio?

MSTY has the lower reported expense ratio in the current fund profile.

Which ETF has the higher distribution yield?

The current dataset does not show a higher-yield winner.

Which ETF has been more volatile?

MSTY has the higher annualized volatility in the current risk snapshot.

Which ETF has had the smaller drawdown?

PLTY has the less severe max drawdown in the current risk snapshot.

Which ETF has the stronger current AlgovestIQ evidence?

PLTY currently leads on supporting AlgovestIQ evidence, 55 to 48.

AIQ Agreement Matrix

2 of 2 covered evidence groups favor PLTY. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.

Evidence groupFavorsReading
AIQ ScorePLTY48 vs 55
FundamentalsNot coveredNot covered
ValuationNot coveredNot covered
TechnicalsNot coveredNot covered
Risk ResiliencePLTYRisk Resilience 0 vs 79
Analyst expectationsNot coveredNot covered

✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of MSTY and PLTY and are excluded from the count.

AIQ Decision Stability

Competitive

The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.

  • The AIQ gap is moderate at 7 points.

Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on PLTY.

AIQ Signal Divergence

Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.

MSTYConflicted

2 bullish / 1 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted

  • Death Cross Active bearish, trend, long horizon (71.09%)
  • Bollinger Band Squeeze neutral, volatility, short horizon
  • Keltner Channel Breakout bullish, volatility, short horizon
PLTY

No active signals

MSTY is conflicted, so the timing case there is weaker than the score alone suggests.

Price vs model alignment

Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.

MSTYNo material change

Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price -3.55%, AIQ 0 points).

PLTYDivergence

Price is down while the AIQ Score moved up 5 points over the same session — price and model disagree (price -1.71%, AIQ +5 points).

What would flip this result

A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.

  1. 1MSTY closes the Risk Resilience gap — currently 79 points behind, the largest single contributor to PLTY's edge.
  2. 2MSTY's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it.
  3. 3PLTY starts generating bearish momentum or trend signals.
  4. 4A regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.

The full evidence

Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.

Performance

Split across windows
MetricMSTYPLTY
1 week (5 sessions)8.5%
1 month (20 sessions)25.3%
3 months (63 sessions)-5.7%
6 months (126 sessions)-32.4%
Year to date-45.7%
1 year (252 sessions)-79.3%

Technicals

Split
MetricMSTYPLTY
RSI (14)68.7
ADX (14)31.9
Price vs 50-day16.7%
Price vs 200-day-29.6%
Volatility (1M, annualized)80.2%

Risk

PLTY is the more resilient
MetricMSTYPLTY
Beta2.731.75
Sharpe ratio-1.92-0.82
Sortino ratio-3.14-1.33
Max drawdown-85.8%-60.8%
Current drawdown-80.2%-46.8%
Annualized volatility70.4%53.6%
Value at risk (95%)-7%-5.5%

Straight answers

Each answer is regenerated from the current snapshot, not written once and left to age.

Which is better, MSTY or PLTY?

On the Algovestiq AIQ Score, PLTY is the stronger of the two as of Sep 9, 2026, scoring 55 against MSTY's 48. The edge comes from risk resilience. MSTY is not without a case — it holds the better quality profile, which matters more if that is the objective you are optimizing for. This is a systematic score, not a recommendation: it ranks the two on the same evidence, it does not know your holding period or tax position.

Is MSTY or PLTY the better buy right now?

PLTY carries the stronger systematic profile as of Sep 9, 2026, and the comparison is rated Competitive — 2 of 2 covered evidence groups agree. A Competitive rating means the two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.

Why does the AIQ Score favor PLTY over MSTY?

The composite weights Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk Resilience. PLTY leads Risk Resilience by 79 points; MSTY leads Quality by 10 points. Where the two split, the factor with the larger weight carries the result.

Which is better value, MSTY or PLTY?

Neither name separates on the peer-relative Value factor. The two are level on Value. The Value factor reads valuation relative to sector peers and to the company's own fundamental quality, so it is not the same as simply having the lower multiple.

Which has stronger growth, MSTY or PLTY?

Growth figures are not covered for both names. Growth here is measured on reported revenue and earnings, not on forward estimates — it describes what the businesses have delivered, not what the Street expects next.

Which has stronger momentum, MSTY or PLTY?

The two are level on Momentum. Momentum is one of the four weighted factors in the AIQ composite. It has documented persistence over three- to twelve-month horizons, which makes it a timing input rather than a reason to hold something indefinitely.

Which is riskier, MSTY or PLTY?

PLTY is the more resilient of the two, so the other name carries the higher downside risk. PLTY on Risk Resilience, by 79 points. Risk Resilience is a weighted factor in the composite; position sizing usually responds to it more usefully than the buy/avoid decision does.

Is MSTY more profitable than PLTY?

Margin data is not comparable for both names in the current snapshot.

What would change the MSTY vs PLTY verdict?

The result is a state, not a forecast, so it changes when the underlying evidence changes. Concretely: MSTY closes the Risk Resilience gap — currently 79 points behind, the largest single contributor to PLTY's edge; MSTY's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it; PLTY starts generating bearish momentum or trend signals; a regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.

What do the current signals say about MSTY and PLTY?

MSTY: 2 bullish / 1 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted. PLTY: No active signals. A conflicted state means bullish and bearish rules are active on the same name at once — the technical evidence is not pointing one way, and a decision taken on it carries more timing risk. The most decision-relevant rule on MSTY is Death Cross Active (bearish, long horizon).

Compare MSTY and PLTY with others

How this comparison is scored

The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.

The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.

How to use side-by-side comparison →

This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.