6 Single-Stock ETFs Making Hasty Exit

Half a dozen single-stock exchange traded funds from both AXS Investments and GraniteShares are set to close less than a year after they launched, highlighting inherent issues facing the single-stock format. 

The closures were announced Monday and are set for later this month. AXS is shuttering two 2x leveraged ETFs that track Nike Inc., a long fund titled the AXS 2X NKE Bull Daily ETF (NKEL) and a short fund, the AXS 2X NKE Bear Daily ETF (NKEQ).

The firm is also closing a pair of Pfizer Inc. funds: the 2x long AXS 2X PFE Bull Daily ETF (PFEL) and the 2x short AXS 2X PFE Bear Daily ETF (PFES).  

Also being closed is a 1.5x leveraged short PayPal Holdings Inc. ETF, the AXS 1.5X PYPL Bear Daily ETF (PYPS). All five funds officially close on June 16, to be liquidated on June 26. GraniteShares is packing up its short Tesla Inc. Fund, the GraniteShares 1x Short TSLA Daily ETF (TSLI), which also ceases trading on June 16. 

The fortunes of AXS’ single-stock ETFs quickly swung after they opened on July 14. AXS rang the Nasdaq opening bell on April 17 of this year to, according to a press release, “celebrate the success of the firm’s first-of-its-kind family of single stock ETFs.” 

GraniteShares’ fund is even newer, having launched last August. The firm also filed to open 32 new single-stock ETFs earlier this month, including five Tesla-focused single-stock ETFs.The rapid opening and closing of the funds underscores how dependent they are on the underlying stocks, according to Sumit Roy, senior analyst at etf.com   

“We’ve seen strong demand for single-stock ETFs tied to volatile stocks that retail investors love to trade, like Tesla and Nvidia,” he said. “Single-stock ETFs tied to more ‘boring’ stocks like Nike and Pfizer haven’t resonated with that set of investors as much.” 

The newly announced GraniteShares ETFs include more actively traded companies, such as Apple Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Corp.  

Contact Gabe Alpert at [email protected]