Key Highlights

  • Three 2x single-stock ETFs launched in 2026 each gained more than 35 percent in the week to September 29: PUL 37.81 percent, MRNX 36.81 percent and VIAG 35.50 percent.
  • Since inception, the Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MRNA ETF (NYSEARCA:MRNX) is up 619.75 percent and the GraniteShares 2x Long P Daily ETF (NASDAQ:PUL) 139.05 percent.
  • The Leverage Shares 2X Long VIAV Daily ETF (CBOE:VIAG) remains 12.25 percent below its July 7 launch despite its weekly surge, a textbook case of Volatility decay.
  • All three reset to 2x exposure daily, carry expense ratios between 0.99 and 1.50 percent, and are designed for short term trading.

1. Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MRNA ETF (NYSEARCA:MRNX): the clinical breakout trade

The standout performer is the Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MRNA ETF (NYSEARCA:MRNX), which launched on February 3, 2026 and closed at USD 148.34 on September 29. It is up 484.02 percent over six months and 619.75 percent since inception. The engine is Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA). On August 19, Merck and Moderna reported that intismeran, a personalized mRNA cancer therapy, combined with Keytruda met the Phase 3 INTerpath-001 primary endpoint of recurrence free survival in 1,137 patients with resected high-risk melanoma. It was the first positive Phase 3 result for an mRNA based cancer therapy. Earlier in August the FDA also approved mFLUSIVA, Moderna's first mRNA flu Vaccine for adults 50 and older, its fifth approved product. Moderna shares went from roughly USD 63 on August 18 to a 52-week high of about USD 195.71 on September 24. The stock's move has been company specific, since BioNTech was up only about 5 percent this year by late September. Risk is now concentrated on a single date: full results are slated for the ESMO Congress on October 24, 2026. Moderna's Market Value is near USD 79 billion, and some analyst targets sit well below the share price. Because the fund doubles each day's move, a weak data reception would hit holders of MRNX twice as hard as holders of the stock. Defiance lists a 1.34 percent gross expense ratio and about USD 29.5 million in net assets, the largest of the three funds here. The math is also instructive: MRNX has not delivered twice Moderna's roughly 561 percent year to date gain, because daily compounding through sharp swings, such as the slide from about USD 174 on August 19 to USD 140.34 on August 31, alters the result.

2. GraniteShares 2x Long P Daily ETF (NASDAQ:PUL): the AI data guidance trade

The ticker P confuses many screen watchers, because the fund name never spells out the company behind it. It belongs to Everpure (NYSE:P), the company formerly called Pure Storage, which rebranded in February and adopted the single letter symbol on April 17, 2026. The GraniteShares 2x Long P Daily ETF (NASDAQ:PUL) arrived on July 7 and closed at USD 60.32 on September 29, a 139.05 percent gain since launch and 82.90 percent over one month. The spark was Everpure's analyst meeting, where management guided to fiscal 2028 Revenue of USD 7.0 billion to USD 7.3 billion against a consensus near USD 6.4 billion, and to non-GAAP Operating Income of USD 1.7 billion to USD 1.9 billion. Contracted Backlog grew 44 percent year over year to USD 4.1 billion, and a second top five hyperscaler design win is expected to ramp in fiscal 2028. Shares of Everpure (NYSE:P) hit a record on September 24 as BofA Securities raised its target to USD 180 and Citi to USD 160, and CFRA upgraded the stock to Buy from Sell the next day. That one week burst explains most of the fund's 37.81 percent weekly gain. The counterweights: a forward Earnings multiple around 45, negative quarterly free Cash Flow tied to NAND purchases, and heavy insider selling. PUL also carries the highest fee in this group, a 1.50 percent expense ratio, with Assets under USD 1 million, which can widen bid and ask spreads during fast markets. Launched the same day as a 2x BlackBerry fund, PUL is the newer and less tested of the two big winners here.

3. Leverage Shares 2X Long VIAV Daily ETF (CBOE:VIAG): the decay lesson

The Leverage Shares 2X Long VIAV Daily ETF (CBOE:VIAG) shows the other side of daily leverage. It rose 1.80 percent on September 29 to USD 11.60 and 35.50 percent in the week, yet it sits 12.25 percent below its July 7 launch. Its underlying, Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV), fell 13.8 percent over the three months to September 28 before a nine day, 21 percent winning streak. Recent support included Level 2 CMMC defense Cybersecurity certification on September 24, a Susquehanna upgrade with a USD 66 target and fiscal fourth quarter revenue up 52.5 percent to USD 443.1 million. Viavi also unveiled Vertex 6.0 in August, billed as the industry's first channel emulator for 6G and Wi-Fi 7 and 8 testing. Still, Viavi reports negative trailing earnings and trades near 6.4 times sales versus a historical median of about 2.7, while insiders sold about USD 59.9 million of stock over the past year. The fund, issued through the Themes ETF Trust with a 0.99 percent expense ratio, held roughly USD 0.6 million. Here is why the weekly gain has not erased the loss, even though Viavi itself is up about 129 percent in 2026: a leveraged fund must earn back a larger percentage after each drawdown, and repeated swings in either direction chip away at value. Anyone tracking Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) momentum from here should recognize that the fund's result depends on the path of prices, not just where they end.

Where Things Stand

Are these three leveraged ETFs worth chasing? The evidence says not blindly. MRNX and PUL show what 2x daily exposure can do when Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Everpure (NYSE:P) rerate sharply on real news, while the Leverage Shares 2X Long VIAV Daily ETF (CBOE:VIAG) shows how volatility can leave a fund underwater despite a strong week. Each is a short term trading tool with event risk, thin assets in two cases and costs that compound over time.