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These Were the Hottest S&P 500 Stocks of the Year

AI winners lead the list of the S&P 500's top 25 stocks of 2025, but some of the names might surprise you.

By Dan Burrows published 29 December 2025 in Features

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Illustration of an abstract fire with the year 2025 - represents the new year - happy new year concept.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The top 25 stocks in the S&P 500 this year might be dominated by tech names taking off on the AI trade, but big-time market beaters can be found in the industrials and materials sectors, too.

First, a quick recap: A volatile spring sell-off (sparked by the "Liberation Day" tariff shock in April) couldn't stop the bull market from stampeding through 2025. Thanks to a strong outlook for corporate earnings and the continued frenzy about AI infrastructure spending, equities are set to end the year at record levels.

With a few days left of 2025, the S&P 500 has delivered a price gain of nearly 18% year to date, with Magnificent 7 stalwarts such as Alphabet (GOOGL) and Nvidia (NVDA) backstopping the cap-weighted benchmark's returns.

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It should come as no surprise that the information technology and communication services sectors were the primary outperformers this year, rising 26% and 22%, respectively. The industrials sector, up 19%, also managed to beat the broader market.

A closer look at the individual names in the S&P 500 reveals that 12 of the 25 hottest stocks of 2025 were tech-related.

However, the rally has broadened significantly; five of the best-performing equities hail from the industrial stock sector, while financial stocks, materials stocks, health care stocks, utility stocks, consumer discretionary and consumer staples are all represented, too.

These were the hottest stocks of the year

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Company (Ticker)

Year-to-date price change

Analysts' consensus recommendation

SanDisk (SNDK)

594%

Buy

Western Digital (WDC)

303%

Buy

Micron Technology (MU)

238%

Buy

Seagate Technology (STX)

232%

Buy

Robinhood Markets (HOOD)

217%

Buy

Newmont (NEM)

184%

Buy

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD)

172%

Buy

Palantir Technologies (PLTR)

149%

Hold

Lam Research (LRCX)

146%

Buy

Comfort Systems USA (FIX)

127%

Strong Buy

Applovin (APP)

120%

Buy

Carvana (CVNA)

115%

Buy

KLA (KLAC)

103%

Buy

GE Vernova (GEV)

101%

Buy

Tapestry (TPR)

101%

Buy

Amphenol (APH)

98%

Buy

Howmet Aerospace (HWM)

93%

Buy

GE Aerospace (GE)

89%

Strong Buy

Corning (GLW)

88%

Buy

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII)

86%

Hold

Dollar General (DG)

82%

Buy

Intel (INTC)

81%

Hold

NRG Energy (NRG)

78%

Buy

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

78%

Buy

CVS Health (CVS)

77%

Buy

What the hottest stocks of 2025 tell us

An interesting takeaway from this list is that the biggest beneficiaries of the AI trade weren't the hyperscalers. Instead, it was a collection of tech companies that design and manufacture the computer memory and storage products that live inside servers.

The ongoing build-out of AI data centers isn't just creating massive demand for specialized chips; it's also fueling a run on flash memory and high-capacity hard disk drives. That's why shares in SanDisk (SNDK), Western Digital (WDC) and Micron Technology (MU) posted the market's most explosive gains this year.

For example, SanDisk is the S&P 500 leader for 2025 with nearly a sixfold price gain. The company, which specializes in flash storage, was spun off from Western Digital in February 2025 and subsequently added to the S&P 500 in November.

Investors are bullish because higher-than-expected demand from AI data centers has allowed SNDK to raise prices and expand its profit margins.

In this photo illustration, the Sandisk Corporation (San Disk) logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen.

(Image credit: Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Image)

Western Digital comes in second in price appreciation, as shares nearly quadrupled this year. By spinning off SanDisk to concentrate on its core competency in hard disk drives, the company became a "pure-play" favorite for investors. The market rewarded the move, viewing hard drives as a relatively stable, high-margin business compared with the more volatile and cyclical flash memory market.

Meanwhile, hyperscalers such as Amazon.com (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT) have a seemingly insatiable demand for WDC's high-capacity drives. As a pure-play hard drive manufacturer at the center of the AI boom, it's no wonder WDC had a fantastic year.

Which brings us to Micron Technology. One of the world's biggest memory chipmakers pivoted in 2025 to become a specialized provider for AI infrastructure. The market applauded rapturously, sending MU stock up almost 240%.

A company whose biggest customers include nearly every member of the Mag 7 — plus Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), among many others — is in an enviable position as an AI play. Like its peers, Micron enjoys significant pricing power due to overwhelming demand, allowing the company to post record-breaking revenue in its most recent quarter.

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Dan BurrowsSocial Links NavigationSenior Investing Writer, Kiplinger.com

Dan Burrows is Kiplinger's senior investing writer, having joined the publication full time in 2016.

A long-time financial journalist, Dan is a veteran of MarketWatch, CBS MoneyWatch, SmartMoney, InvestorPlace, DailyFinance and other tier 1 national publications. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Consumer Reports and his stories have appeared in the New York Daily News, the San Jose Mercury News and Investor's Business Daily, among many other outlets. As a senior writer at AOL's DailyFinance, Dan reported market news from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Once upon a time – before his days as a financial reporter and assistant financial editor at legendary fashion trade paper Women's Wear Daily – Dan worked for Spy magazine, scribbled away at Time Inc. and contributed to Maxim magazine back when lad mags were a thing. He's also written for Esquire magazine's Dubious Achievements Awards.

In his current role at Kiplinger, Dan writes about markets and macroeconomics.

Dan holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's degree from Columbia University.

Disclosure: Dan does not trade individual stocks or securities. He is eternally long the U.S equity market, primarily through tax-advantaged accounts.