XNTK vs. QQQ: Does a 35-Stock Tech ETF Beat Just Buying the Nasdaq-100?

XNTK vs. QQQ: Does a 35-Stock Tech ETF Beat Just Buying the Nasdaq-100? John Seetoo Thu, July 16, 2026 at 1:56 AM GMT+2 4 min read QQQ AVGO PLTR NVDA AAPL Quick Read XNTK's equal-weight quarterly rebalancing beat QQQ by 23 percentage points last year and outpaced it by 272 points over a decade.

Equal-weighting gives Broadcom and Palantir, which are up 776% and 503% over five years respectively, the same portfolio impact as NVIDIA inside XNTK. XNTK's pure-tech concentration cuts both ways: it charges nearly double QQQ's fees and fell 42% in 2022 versus QQQ's 34% drop. This lithium producer surpassed a $1B private valuation, joining some of America's most powerful startups.

Now you can invest in EnergyX alongside global giants like General Motors, but only through July 16. (sponsor) The SPDR NYSE Technology ETF ( NYSEARCA:XNTK ) and the Invesco QQQ Trust ( NASDAQ:QQQ ) look like two flavors of the same trade. Both live near the front of the AI rally.

Both charge institutional-grade fees. Yet XNTK has returned 51. 65% over the past year against QQQ's 28.

43%, and 808. 69% over ten years against QQQ's 536. 62%.

A 35-stock equal-weight portfolio is beating the Nasdaq-100 badly. The reason matters more than the gap. Andrew Angelov / Shutterstock.

com What Each Fund Is Actually Betting On QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100 and lets market cap decide everything. When Apple grows, its weight grows. When NVIDIA melts up, so does its slice.

That mechanic is a bet on mega-cap dominance persisting: the biggest names keep compounding faster than the rest of the index. It also means QQQ carries meaningful non-tech exposure. Costco ( NASDAQ:COST ) is classified as Consumer Defensive, not technology, and sits inside QQQ alongside healthcare and staples names.

XNTK tracks the NYSE Technology Index: roughly 35 US-listed tech leaders, equal-dollar-weighted and rebalanced quarterly. That structure is two bets stacked. First, pure tech only, no consumer or healthcare drag.

Second, breadth over dominance. A mid-tier holding matters as much as the largest holding, and every rebalance trims winners and adds to laggards. In an environment where AI leadership rotates across semis, software, and hyperscalers, that reset has captured more of the move than cap-weighting has.

July 16 is the Final Day to Tap Into the Lithium Boom (sponsor) General Motors, POSCO, and 50,000+ everyday investors have already backed lithium producer EnergyX . Here's why you should do the same before their July 16 investment deadline: lithium prices are up 75% this year, with demand projected to grow a staggering 5X by 2040. With tech that can recover up to 3X more lithium than traditional methods, EnergyX is preparing to unlock up to 15M+ tons.

Become a private-stage EnergyX investor before the July 16 deadline . Story Continues Where The Divergence Shows Up The AI beneficiaries prove the point. NVIDIA ( NASDAQ:NVDA ) sits at a $5.

1 trillion market cap and has run 929% over five years. QQQ owns it heavily by design. XNTK owns it at roughly the same weight as everything else, and pairs it with Broadcom ( NASDAQ:AVGO ), up 775.

99% over five years, and Palantir ( NASDAQ:PLTR ), up 503. 15%. Equal-weighting gives those winners real portfolio impact.

The trade-off shows in stress. During 2022, XNTK fell 41. 78% while QQQ dropped 33.

71%. Concentrated tech gets hit harder when rates spike. And single names can still hurt XNTK: Microsoft ( NASDAQ:MSFT ) is down 21.

69% over the past year even as most of tech surged. The Practical Comparison Metric XNTK QQQ Expense ratio 0. 35% ~0.

20% (industry standard) Holdings ~35, equal-weight ~100, cap-weight YTD 2026 return +28. 94% +15. 86% 2022 drawdown -41.

78% -33. 71% Forward annual dividend $0. 81 $3.

25 QQQ costs less, distributes more income, and includes ballast from names like Costco that soften pure-tech shocks. XNTK costs more, yields almost nothing, and delivers a purer, more concentrated tech bet with a forced quarterly rebalance. The Verdict XNTK fits an investor who already believes tech will keep leading, wants that thesis expressed cleanly, and can stomach a deeper 2022-style drawdown when tech breaks.

The equal-weight reset is the real edge: it monetizes rotation inside tech instead of letting one or two mega-caps dictate returns. QQQ fits an investor who wants low-cost exposure to the largest Nasdaq names with some non-tech diversification and better tax and income characteristics. If leadership narrows back to a handful of trillion-dollar names, QQQ's cap-weight will start winning again.

Until then, XNTK's structure is doing more work. Meet America's Newest $1b Unicorn (Sponsor) A US startup just passed a $1 billion private valuation, joining billion-dollar private companies like OpenAI and ByteDance. Unlike those other unicorns, you can invest in EnergyX right now; but only until July 16.

Over 50,000 people already have, along with global giants like General Motors and POSCO. Here's why there's so much interest: EnergyX's patented tech can recover up to 3X more lithium than traditional methods. That's a big deal, as demand for lithium is expected to 5X current production levels by 2040.

Become an early-stage EnergyX shareholder before the 7/16 investment deadline. Contact editorial@247wallst. com for any questions or corrections.