Why SOXL Gained 3,500% While SOXX Rose 300%: The Magic of Daily Compounding

If you compare the two stocks with the same amount of money, the difference in returns is clearly massive... I bought SOXL in April, and even though it has dropped to a third of its peak, I still have a 1,300% return.

Lowest points of both stocks: both April 7, 2025
Highest points of both stocks: both June 22, 2026
SOXX: $148.31 → $655.95, up about 342%
SOXL: $7.23 → $302, up about 4,077%
The reason SOXL rose far more than simply three times the return of SOXX can be understood as the compounding effect accumulated as the 3x daily returns are reapplied every day in a strong bull market.

While SOXL indeed provides 3x the daily return, over the course of a year, the 3x leverage is repeatedly applied to the daily fluctuations. Therefore, if a strong bull market continues, the compounding effect can make the one-year return much larger than simply three times that of SOXX. Conversely, if it declines or fluctuates severely, losses also accumulate, and the principal can become close to zero. In other words, the compounding effect of SOXL is not always advantageous; it acts as a powerful friend in a bull market, but becomes a very dangerous enemy in a bear market.