2026’s Triple-Digit ETF Winners

We’ve already looked at some of the best and worst performers of the year so far, along with the biggest inflows and outflows. To wrap up the first quarter, it’s worth stepping back and looking at the top performers across all ETFs.

This time, there are no exclusions. Leveraged, inverse and single-stock ETFs are all included.

A Familiar Winner

The top performer is the same one that led the non-leveraged list.

The Breakwave Tanker Shipping ETF (BWET) surged 411% in the first quarter, making it the best-performing ETF of any kind.

The fund holds tanker freight futures tied to the cost of shipping crude oil. That market exploded higher as the Iran war disrupted flows through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important oil transit routes in the world.

Higher risk, longer routes, and tighter vessel availability all pushed freight rates sharply higher, and BWET captured that move.

Even among leveraged ETFs, nothing came close.

Leverage Drives The Rest

After BWET, the rest of the list is dominated by leveraged energy trades.

The Leverage Shares 2X Long PBR Daily ETF (PBRG) gained 188%, riding the surge in shares of Brazilian oil giant Petrobras.

The MicroSectors U.S. Big Oil Index 3X Leveraged ETN (NRGU) and the MicroSectors Energy 3X Leveraged ETN (WTIU) both rose around 140%, offering amplified exposure to baskets of energy stocks.

The ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (UCO), which delivers two times the daily return of oil futures, gained 103%.

That return was not dramatically higher than the gains in unleveraged oil ETFs. The United States Oil Fund (USO) rose 84%, while the United States Brent Oil Fund (BNO) posted similar gains.

Part of that comes down to how the funds are structured. USO and BNO track front-month futures, which saw the biggest price increases. UCO spreads exposure across multiple contracts along the curve, where gains were more muted.

Not Just Energy

A couple non-energy ETFs also made the list.

The GraniteShares 2x Long VRT Daily ETF (VRTL) jumped 104%, tracking Vertiv, which has ridden the surge in demand for data center cooling and power tied to AI.

Similarly, the Leverage Shares 2X Long TER Daily ETF (TERG) rose 103%, tied to Teradyne, which makes testing equipment used across the semiconductor industry.

For a full list of the best performing ETFs of the year so far, see the table below: