Sumit Roy
2 min read
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Shares of Tesla Inc. (TSLA) plunged 14% on Thursday in a brutal session that sent shockwaves through the leveraged Tesla ETF universe. The Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 2X Shares (TSLL) dropped a whopping 28.5% during the session, its second-worst day ever.
You might expect investors to flee after a wipeout like that, but instead, they piled in.
A combined $140 million flowed into the 18 U.S.-listed Tesla-focused ETFs on Thursday. Nearly all of that went into TSLL, which hauled in $142 million despite its double-digit drop. The surge in assets suggests dip-buyers are doubling down on the long side, betting on a rebound in Tesla shares.
TSLL has now seen a whopping $3.1 billion in inflows year to date, bringing its total assets to just over $4 billion. That’s down from a peak of more than $7 billion in May, reflecting steep price losses. So far this year, TSLL is down 60%, more than double Tesla’s 25% decline.
Far behind in Thursday’s inflows tally was the YieldMax TSLA Option Income ETF (TSLY), which pulled in $6 million. That brought its year-to-date inflows to $514 million and pushed its total assets to $950 million, making it the second-largest Tesla ETF in the U.S.
TSLY sells covered calls on Tesla stock to generate income, trading upside potential for monthly yield. While that strategy cushions some downside, the ETF is still heavily exposed to Tesla’s share price. Year to date, the fund is down 21%, a bit better than Tesla’s 25% slide.
Interestingly, the big winner on Thursday—the Tradr 2X Short TSLA Daily ETF (TSLQ), which gained nearly 29%—lost assets. Investors pulled $2.5 million from the bearish fund, suggesting traders weren’t eager to press short bets after the drop. Still, TSLQ has taken in $255 million so far this year and now manages around $480 million, making it the third-largest Tesla-focused ETF.
