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The US stock market is the world’s largest, hosting major exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, where nine of the top 10 global companies by market capitalization are listed. Investors around the world participate in the US stock market.
The S&P 500 is an index that tracks 500 leading US-listed companies and is used by investors as a key barometer of US stock market performance. The companies in the S&P 500 are weighted by market capitalization and dominated by sectors like information technology, financials and healthcare. The index returns an average of 10% annually.
This article explores the dynamics of the US stock market and the composition of the S&P 500. It highlights the 20 best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 so far this year, showcasing opportunities for investors seeking growth and stability.
Key Takeaways:
The S&P 500, representing 500 leading US companies, is a critical measure of US stock market performance.
Market capitalization, calculated as share price times the number of shares, is a vital metric for assessing a company’s value and stability.
Stocks like NRG Energy, Palantir Technologies and Uber Technologies have led US market performance in 2025.
The US stock market is the world’s largest. Some of the main exchanges in this market include the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. Nine of the world’s 10 largest companies by market cap are listed on the US stock market. US equities have returned over 10% in 10 of the years since 2012, outperforming other key indices like the MSCI World Index. Investing in the US stock market is an excellent way to build wealth in the long run. Dominant companies in this market have had stable financial performance and have produced stellar price returns.
The S&P 500 is an index of 500 of the leading companies in the US. The index is weighted based on the constituent companies’ market capitalization.
This index is regarded as one of the most accurate ways to measure the performance of US equity markets. Although you can’t invest directly in this index, you can invest in various funds that track the S&P 500’s performance.
The businesses below are currently the top 10 companies in the S&P 500. The largest constituent, Microsoft, has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, while Broadcom has a market cap of $1.08 trillion.
The S&P 500 is primarily dominated by information technology, financial and healthcare stocks. These three sectors account for nearly 55% of the index.
The market capitalization is the most common way to describe a company’s total value. It is equivalent to the share price times the number of shares. Market capitalization = share price * number of shares This number is much more meaningful than the company’s share price. A company with a lower share price can have a higher market cap than a company with a higher share price. Identifying high-growth large-cap stocks can be a solid investment strategy. Companies with larger market caps tend to be more stable investments as they have proven their worth over time. These companies have stable financial performance and often have respectable dividend yields.
Below is a list of the 20 top-performing stocks in the US in 2025. These stocks have soared while the S&P 500 has returned 0.74% year-to-date.
A leading North American energy generation and supply company, NRG Energy has had a very favorable financial performance this year. The company’s revenue grew by 15.6% year-on-year (YoY) last quarter, and its earnings per share (EPS) was $2.62, higher than its target of $0.72.
Its growth outlook appears very promising, as it recently completed a considerable $12 billion acquisition.
Palantir has been a dominant force in AI developments and has had rapid growth driven by a healthy combination of public and private sector contracts.
The company’s government and commercial revenue grew by 45% YoY and 71% YoY, respectively. Palantir’s management projects that the demand for large language models (LLMs) and AI software will help fuel additional growth.
Uber controls nearly 74% of the ridesharing market in the US, and its Uber Eats segment has been growing to compete with other companies like Doordash and Grubhub.
During Q1 2025, Uber’s revenue rose by 14% YoY, and its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) increased by 35% YoY.
Uber has plenty of potential to continue improving its margins and find new sources of growth by expanding into new markets and enhancing new business segments.
Super Micro Computer provides AI, cloud, 5G and storage solutions. Its quarterly revenue growth was 19.5% YoY, and its earnings rose slightly above expectations.
Management noted that its growth came in a bit slower than normal last quarter due to economic uncertainties. However, it expects growth to pick up momentum during the second half of 2025 due to the continued demand for AI and IT services.
Howmet is a leading aerospace company targeting areas like commercial aerospace, defense aerospace and commercial transportation.
The company’s recent growth has been robust, particularly in its defense segment. During Q1 2025, Howmet’s revenue grew by 6% YoY, and its earnings grew by 51% YoY. Its management is targeting 8% revenue growth this year.
Mosaic Co. is one of the leading global suppliers of potash and phosphate products. Its performance was mixed — it missed its revenue target but exceeded its net income target.
Many companies in this industry experienced a strong revenue decline in 2024, but things slowly appear to be turning the corner for leading companies like Mosaic.
Philip Morris is the world’s largest tobacco company, with a 15.5% market share. The company’s net revenue rose by 6% YoY in Q1 2025, driven by double-digit growth in the Americas.
Its smoke-free segment, which recently grew by over 40% to account for 42% of its revenue, is one of its strongest new growth catalysts. This pivot in the market has helped keep Philip Morris relevant and diversified.
CVS is one of the country’s leading healthcare companies, most notable for its retail pharmacy service locations. Its revenue grew by around 7% YoY last quarter, with health services being its strongest growing segment, expanding by 18%.
Moving forward, CVS Health has a very promising growth outlook, driven by its organic growth prospects and new partnerships with companies like Novo Nordisk.
GE is a global aerospace giant that serves a variety of private commercial companies and defense customers.
Its total revenue rose by 11% YoY last quarter, driven by strong growth in its services segment. The company recently made heavy investments in its US manufacturing capacity and currently has a strong backlog of $140 billion, which should support growth this year.
Verisign is a leading domain registry company that currently has over 160 million .com and .net domain registrations from its user base. The company has gained a lot of attention in the market, especially after Warren Buffett recently decided to increase his stake in the company.
Newmont Corporation has been one of the top-performing mining stocks this year. The price of gold has been on a tear in 2025, and gold mining giants like Newmont have been ahead of the pack.
Newmont has an extremely strong balance sheet and has been delivering record free cash flow, even with its mining output declining. This is an excellent company to continue following, as higher gold prices should continue to support favorable margins in subsequent quarters.
Netflix is the leading streaming platform in the US, and it has a lot of exciting growth prospects ahead of it.
The on-demand streaming service surprised the market recently with its stellar 13% YoY revenue growth last quarter. Netflix looks like it will be a very stable play in this market, as the company has historically weathered economic storms. Consumers shouldn’t be too price sensitive, especially since its budget plan with ads is $7.99/month.
Cardinal Health is a healthcare giant that manufactures and sells pharmaceutical products and various medical devices to hospitals. It has had very stable growth in the market, and its future outlook is favorable.
Cardinal Health had flat revenue growth last quarter, but still grew its earnings by 9.4% YoY. Management has noted that strong demand in areas like its in-home solutions, specialty pharmaceuticals and advanced diabetes supply group will help drive further growth.
GE Vernova is a leading clean energy company that focuses on solutions like power, wind and electrification. The company’s QE revenue rose by 11% YoY last quarter, and it also had significant growth in its backlog.
As the demand for renewable energy continues its upward trajectory, GE Vernova is well-positioned as an industry giant that can continue expanding through organic growth and acquisitions.
Constellation Energy produces around 10% of the clean energy in the US. It has been utilizing AI developments, new partnerships and other initiatives to continue delivering favorable financial growth.
The company’s operating earnings rose from $1.82 per share to $2.14 per share in the first quarter of 2025.
Texas Pacific is one of the state’s largest landowners, and it primarily earns its revenue through energy royalties. Its revenue rose slightly from $171.4 million in Q1 2024 to $196 million in Q1 2025, driven by increased oil and gas royalties and water royalties.
Texas Pacific Land Corp appears resilient enough to weather any storms in the commodity market and may be a safer bet than energy pure plays.
Cencora is a healthcare company for humans and animals that has had a very positive start to 2025.
The company’s revenue rose by 12.8% YoY last quarter, driven by 13.8% YoY growth in its US healthcare solutions segment. Cencora is targeting 8–10% revenue growth this year and projects that its US performance will offset weaker growth in its international operations.
HCA Healthcare is a healthcare giant that has been making considerable strides lately through geographical expansions and acquisitions.
The company had favorable growth in all of its segments except outpatient surgeries. Its revenue grew by 6% YoY last quarter, driven by rising admissions and higher revenue per customer.
Crowdstrike operates an AI cybersecurity platform that helps protect companies from security breaches. The company has a strong customer base in the public and private sectors and has been able to boost its annual recurring revenue by nearly $1 billion in the past 12 months.
As cybersecurity attacks become more common and companies ramp up spending in this area, Crowdstrike appears poised to continue capturing additional growth.
McKesson is a diversified healthcare company that sells medical supplies and pharmaceutical products. The company’s revenue rose by 18% YoY last quarter, and its pharmaceutical segment was the main driver of growth.
Moving forward, McKesson has a lot of growth potential through organic growth in its pharma segment, international expansions and new acquisitions.
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