QQQ vs UPST: Correlation
Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST) show a moderate relationship: their 3-year correlation of weekly returns is 0.50.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are QQQ and UPST?
Over the past 3 years, QQQ and UPST moved with a correlation of 0.50, which is moderate. Little has changed lately, as the 1-year reading of 0.53 lands near the 3-year figure. Over 5 years the correlation is 0.50, and the annualized covariance of weekly returns is 890.7 %².
By 3-year correlation, UPST places #288 of the 4755 assets tracked against QQQ. Their recent paths diverged sharply: over the last 12 months QQQ outperformed by 82.5 percentage points (+26.3% for QQQ against -56.2% for UPST). Note the risk asymmetry: UPST runs 4.6 times the annualized volatility of the other leg, so equal-weighting the two is not an equal-risk position.
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
QQQ vs UPST: side by side
| QQQ (Invesco QQQ Trust) | UPST (Upstart Holdings, Inc.) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +26.3% | -56.2% |
| 5-year return | +95.4% | -85.9% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 19.6% | 91.0% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 1.28 | 3.51 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -22.8% | -72.7% |
| Market cap | – | $3.0B |
| P/E (trailing) | – | 58.6 |
| Dividend yield | 0.44% | 0.00% |
| Expense ratio | 0.18% | – |
| Assets under management | $452.8B | – |
| Sector / category | ETF · US Growth & Tech | US Listed |
QQQ, Invesco's Large Growth fund, carries $452.8B under management, 104 holdings, a 0.18% expense ratio, a 0.44% trailing dividend yield.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | QQQ | UPST |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -32.6% | -91.3% |
| 2023 | +54.9% | +209.1% |
| 2024 | +25.6% | +50.7% |
| 2025 | +20.8% | -29.0% |
| 2026 | +17.7% | -30.3% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are QQQ and UPST good diversifiers for each other?
To a limited degree. At 0.50 the two still catch most of the same waves, so the pair smooths returns a little without insulating either from a shared selloff.
FAQ
What is the correlation between QQQ and UPST?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.50 over 3 years, with 0.53 over the last year and 0.50 over 5 years.
Is UPST a good diversifier for QQQ?
To a limited degree. At 0.50 the two still catch most of the same waves, so the pair smooths returns a little without insulating either from a shared selloff.
What does a correlation of 0.50 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.50 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/qqq-vs-upst.json
Markdown for the live badge, attribution link included:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/qqq-vs-upst/)
Free with attribution; caching and terms are described in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: QQQ correlations · UPST correlations
