The Top Performing S P 500 Stocks Of 2025 Can Momentum Sustain

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 4, 2025, 1:57 AM

the top performing s p 500 stocks of 2025 can momentum sustain

NEM Quick QuoteNEM PLTR Quick QuotePLTR GEV Quick QuoteGEV It’s been another great year for stocks so far, with the resilience notable given tariff-induced fears among other economic concerns. And leading the pack for the S&P 500 this year is none other than AI-favorite Palantir (PLTR Quick QuotePLTR - Free Report) , energy titan GE Vernova (GEV Quick QuoteGEV - Free Report) ,... As shown below, all three have soared YTD, heavily outpacing the S&P 500’s also impressive 9% gain. Let’s take a closer look at what’s been driving the positivity. Palantir has rapidly become one of the top AI stocks for investors, with robust quarterly results stemming from red-hot demand paving a highly positive outlook.

US commercial revenue grew 93% YoY throughout its latest period, with US government revenue also up an impressive 53%. These three S&P 500 stocks jumped over 20% each last month, but one has failed to sustain momentum since. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) index, a leading benchmark of the U.S. stock market, rose about 1.9% in August. However, at least 20 stocks in the S&P 500 index rallied over 10% in the month, with the top three rallying over 20% each. Here's what propelled them higher.

Albemarle (ALB 2.36%) is among the world's largest miners of lithium, a key raw material for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, electronics, and energy storage systems. Lithium carbonate prices hit a one-year high in August after Chinese EV battery giant and lithium producer CATL suspended operations at a mine as its license expired. Albemarle stock surged 25.2%, making it August's biggest S&P 500 mover. With CATL about to resume operations and lithium prices falling back to the ground, Albemarle stock has already reversed course. It's down 14% this month, as of this writing. UnitedHealth Group (UNH 2.92%) was among the biggest losers in the S&P 500, dropping 50% through the end of July.

But it made a dramatic comeback, surging 24.2% in August after legendary investor Warren Buffett disclosed a $1.6 billion stake in the beleaguered health insurer. Emily Rowland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management, joined a discussion on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ on February 13 to share her insights on the markets and the upcoming PPI (Producer Price Index)... She thinks that the S&P earnings are highly underappreciated right now. She noted that the market’s reaction to inflation data has been asymmetric. While higher inflation numbers are often shrugged off, any relief from softer inflation prints tends to cause bigger moves in the markets. This was evident in the response to the CPI (Consumer Price Index) report.

Regarding market performance, Rowland highlighted that the S&P 500 earnings were coming in with strong growth (16% year-over-year for the fourth quarter) and this growth is broad-based across sectors like healthcare and utilities. Financials also showed significant gains with a 50% increase. On discussing President Trump’s announcement of retaliatory tariffs via Truth Social, Rowland said that her team avoids making tactical investment decisions based on political outcomes due to their unpredictability and rapid changes. In terms of attractive sectors for investment within US markets, she highlighted healthcare and industrial companies as promising areas due to their strong fundamentals and potential benefits from ongoing supply chain reshoring activities within... While acknowledging political factors can influence sector performance, her strategy focuses on longer-term economic trends rather than short-term political developments when considering investments in key indices like those represented by major US equities such... With that being said, we’re here with a list of the 10 best-performing S&P 500 stocks so far in 2o25.

A close-up of a portfolio of stocks, emphasizing the broad equity portfolio of the company. We first sifted through the Finviz stock screener to compile a list of the best-performing S&P 500 stocks. We then picked the top 10 stocks with the highest year-to-date performance, as of February 17. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their year-to-date performance. We’ve also added the hedge fund sentiment for each stock which was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database. The third-quarter earnings season begins its second busiest week, with 135 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report.

Notable companies scheduled to release earnings include: Palantir (PLTR), Pfizer (PFE), Yum! Brands (YUM), Emerson Electric (EMR), McDonald’s (MCD), Humana (HUM), and Qualcomm (QCOM). Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/A, BRK/B) reported better-than-expected earnings on Saturday. A deeper dive and insights into Berkshire Hathaway’s third-quarter earnings are here. With 64% of companies reporting so far, 83% have beaten consensus earnings estimates. The earnings season preview from last week contains more details about the underlying drivers of earnings.

Combining actual results with consensus estimates for companies yet to report, the S&P 500’s blended earnings growth rate for the quarter is at 10.7% year-over-year, above the expectations of 7.9% at the end of... The expected earnings growth rates for calendar years 2025 and 2026 increased to 11.2% and 14.0%, respectively. The continuation of the strong earnings season helped lift the S&P 500 last week. The Magnificent 7, consisting of Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), Amazon.com (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), NVIDIA (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Tesla (TSLA), outperformed last week. Because these companies are critical drivers of earnings growth and a significant percentage of the S&P 500’s market capitalization, the Magnificent 7 remained the group to watch this earnings season. Despite the disappointments from Tesla (TSLA) and Meta Platforms (META), the rest of the group picked up the slack.

Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Amazon.com (AMZN) continued to support the thesis that demand for artificial intelligence (AI) is driving robust growth. Resources > Blog > Asset Allocation & Insights > Best Stock Movers in the S&P 500: March 2025 Performance & Position Shifts Despite renewed macroeconomic concerns—including a drop in consumer confidence and elevated inflation expectations—March 2025 delivered notable outperformance by select S&P 500 stocks. As volatility returned to broader markets, leadership rotated into specific sectors and names showing resilience, innovation, or tactical value. This analysis spotlights the top-performing S&P 500 stocks in March 2025, provides sector-level insights, and offers strategic guidance for advisors looking to position portfolios with momentum or defensiveness in mind. Source: YCharts Data, as of March 31, 2025.

Total return includes dividends where applicable. As of March 31, 2025, here are the top 10 S&P 500 companies that experienced the most significant positive position changes by market capitalization during March: The U.S. stock market remained mostly resilient, driven by a healthy economic backdrop and rate cuts by the Federal Reserve despite spells of volatility and inflationary pressure during 2024. Year to date, the S&P 500 is up 26.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 13.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite has risen 30.1%. Moving on to 2025, the U.S.

markets seem well-poised for growth, driven by steady consumer spending and booming technological innovation, especially AI, and a healthy labor market. However, inflation and geopolitical turmoil remain headwinds. Amid such a market scenario, investors can consider momentum investing for good returns. Though quite risky, momentum investing can yield great results with proper planning. Momentum strategy is a technical trading methodology whereby investors usually buy high in anticipation that a stock will only appreciate in the near term Characteristically, this investment approach focuses on shorter to medium-term trends.

Momentum strategies are often influenced by investor sentiment, which can drive the persistence of trends in the short term. It’s been another great year for stocks so far, with the resilience notable given tariff-induced fears among other economic concerns. And leading the pack for the S&P 500 this year is none other than AI-favorite Palantir PLTR, energy titan GE Vernova GEV, and gold miner Newmont NEM. As shown below, all three have soared YTD, heavily outpacing the S&P 500’s also impressive 9% gain. Let’s take a closer look at what’s been driving the positivity. Palantir has rapidly become one of the top AI stocks for investors, with robust quarterly results stemming from red-hot demand paving a highly positive outlook.

US commercial revenue grew 93% YoY throughout its latest period, with US government revenue also up an impressive 53%. Total sales grew 48% year-over-year. Below is a chart illustrating Palantir’s sales on a quarterly basis. The widely followed Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is the standard by which stock market performance in the U.S. is often measured, as it tracks 500 of the largest and most stable publicly traded companies in the country. The index is weighted by market capitalization, which gives more significance to companies with larger market values.

The top 25 stocks in the S&P 500 by weight are the largest, most influential companies in the index. To be included in the S&P 500, a company must: The S&P 500 reconstitutes each June. Companies removed from the index are not replaced until the next annual reconstitution. The table below lists the S&P 500's top sectors by weighting as of July 31, 2025. The information technology, financials, consumer discretionary, and communications services sectors carry a cumulative weight of 68.1%.

Meanwhile, the least-weighted sectors include energy, utilities, and real estate, which have a combined weight of just 7.5%.

The Top Performing S P 500 Stocks Of 2025 Can Momentum Sustain

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