Best Performing Stocks: Guide for Investors

This article explains what best performing stocks are, how returns are measured, common timeframes and indices, screening methods, notable 2025–2026 examples, risks, and tools for tracking winners....

2024-07-14 04:36:00

By Cyber Fusion

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Best performing stocks

This guide explains what best performing stocks are, how performance is measured, how publications and screeners build leaderboards, and practical investor considerations. It is written for beginners and active market users who want a reliable, neutral explanation of the topic and pointers to tools (including Bitget) to track top winners. The keyword "best performing stocks" appears throughout to aid discoverability and clarity.

Definition and scope

Best performing stocks means the equity securities that have delivered the largest investment returns over a chosen period. Returns may be reported as simple price return (percentage change in share price) or total return (price change plus dividends and distributions). Typical timeframes include daily, year-to-date (YTD), 1-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year windows. The scope of a ranking can vary: some lists cover the S&P 500, others cover all U.S.-listed equities, Nasdaq-listed names, or global universes. Different scopes produce different winners: small-cap universes often show more extreme short-term leaders than large-cap indexes.

As of January 28, 2026, according to major market reports, lists of best performing stocks in recent years were often led by companies tied to AI, memory and data infrastructure, and select commodity beneficiaries. These examples are used in context later in this article (sources cited in References).

Metrics and measurement

Understanding how returns are calculated is essential when reading any list of best performing stocks. The choice of metric materially affects who appears on top.

Price return

Price return is the simplest measure: it is the percentage change in stock price over the selected period. It is commonly used for short-term leaderboards (intraday, daily, weekly or YTD lists) because it is straightforward and fast to compute. For example, a stock that moves from $10 to $15 has a 50% price return.

Strengths:

Quick to compute and easy to display.
Useful for intraday and short-term screens.

Limitations:

Ignores dividends and distributions.
Sensitive to corporate actions such as splits if not adjusted.

Total return

Total return includes price change plus dividends, reinvested distributions and other cash returns. Over multi-year horizons, total return gives a clearer picture of investor outcomes, especially for dividend-paying names.

Strengths:

More realistic for long-term wealth comparison.
Reflects compounding from dividends when reinvested.

Limitations:

Requires accurate dividend histories and assumptions about reinvestment timing.

Risk-adjusted measures

Comparing raw returns can mislead if risk is not considered. Common risk-adjusted metrics include:

CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate): useful to compare returns across different lengths.
Volatility (standard deviation): shows variability.
Sharpe ratio: return per unit of volatility relative to a risk-free rate.
Maximum drawdown: worst peak-to-trough loss over the period.

Using risk-adjusted metrics helps identify winners that achieved strong returns with manageable volatility, rather than one-off explosive moves.

Other filters and adjustments

Publishers and screeners typically adjust returns for corporate events such as stock splits, spin-offs, mergers, and delistings. They also apply liquidity and market-cap filters to avoid temporary spikes driven by illiquid microcaps. Accounting for survivorship bias — the tendency to ignore delisted or bankrupt firms — is important for fair historical comparisons.

Common timeframes and indices used

Lists of best performing stocks vary by timeframe and index coverage. Typical options include:

Daily/Intraday: top gainers and losers during a trading session.
YTD: leaders since the start of the calendar year.
1-year: shows momentum across the last 12 months.
3/5/10-year: useful for medium to long-term performance assessment.

Index scopes:

S&P 500: large-cap U.S. leaders and widely followed.
Nasdaq 100: concentrates on technology and growth names.
Russell 2000 / small-cap universes: often produce more volatile winners.
All U.S.-listed stocks: broadest universe but requires more filters for quality.

Winners shift across scopes. A small-cap biotech can top a broad U.S. list for a year but will rarely lead S&P 500 leaderboards.

Data sources and screening methodologies

Reliable data and transparent methodology are essential for credible rankings of best performing stocks.

Public market data providers and screeners

Common data sources and screeners include real-time and end-of-day providers. Examples used by market writers include Yahoo Finance, TradingView, MarketBeat, Nasdaq data feeds and specialized screeners such as StockRover. Each provider differs by coverage, update frequency, and corporate action handling.

Example inclusion criteria used by publishers

To produce robust leaderboards, publishers often apply filters such as:

Minimum market capitalization (e.g., > $300 million) to exclude microcaps.
Minimum average daily trading volume to ensure liquidity.
Price floor (e.g., > $1 or > $5) to avoid penny stock noise.
Excluding recent IPOs for some surveys to avoid short operating histories.

Such filters prevent one-day spikes in illiquid names from dominating a meaningful list of best performing stocks.

Methodology transparency

Good lists clearly state whether returns are price or total return, how corporate actions were handled, and the exact universe and cutoff dates. When a publisher documents its methodology, readers can better judge comparability across sources.

Historical examples and notable years

Real-world leaderboards illustrate how sectors and events produce concentrated winners.

As of January 28, 2026, memory and storage companies and chip-equipment suppliers were among the best performing stocks across several mid-term leaderboards, driven by AI infrastructure demand and shortages (reporting summarized from market coverage in late 2025 and early 2026).
Some small-cap winners deliver extreme returns over 12 months, but those gains often come with higher volatility and sometimes limited follow-through. Publishers such as MarketBeat and TradeThatSwing have documented extreme 1-year gainers that later reversed.
Theme-driven years: 2025–2026 saw cycles where AI, semiconductors, memory and data-center infrastructure led price action. Conversely, software stocks that did not show immediate monetization of AI features lagged in some periods.

These historical patterns underscore that thematic catalysts — such as technological bottlenecks, commodity cycles, or M&A — often create concentrated winners among the best performing stocks.

Sector and thematic drivers

Sectors are a key driver of relative performance. Leadership shifts according to economic cycles and technological demand.

Technology and semiconductors: hardware suppliers, memory makers and toolmakers can rally sharply when shortages or strong demand emerge.
Materials and energy: commodity cycles can propel miners and producers to the top of leaderboards.
Health care and biotech: trial results or regulatory approvals can create sudden winners, especially among smaller companies.
Defensive and safe-haven assets: in some macro environments, precious metals and related equities outperform broad markets. For example, as of January 28, 2026, major coverage highlighted a dramatic rally in gold and silver over the prior 12 months. According to CoinDesk reporting, gold's price rose more than 80% over the preceding 12 months, making it one of the best-performing major assets in that window (CoinDesk interview with industry participants). This is relevant because winners are not always equities; investors use comparative performance to allocate across assets.

Investor strategies related to top performers

There are several strategies that engage directly with best performing stocks.

Momentum and trend-following

Momentum strategies buy recent winners on the expectation that trends persist. Academic studies and practical evidence show momentum can work, but it requires disciplined risk management because trends reverse.

Fundamental, value, and buy-and-hold

Long-term investors may add high-performing stocks when fundamentals justify the price. Value-focused investors may prefer to avoid chasing short-term leaders and instead focus on companies with durable cash flows and reasonable valuations.

Diversification and risk management

Regardless of strategy, diversification and position sizing are primary risk controls. Overconcentration in a few best performing stocks can magnify losses if leadership rotates. Advisors commonly recommend spreading exposure across sectors and using stop-loss or rebalancing rules.

Note: This article does not provide personalized investment advice.

Risks and caveats

When reading lists of best performing stocks, keep these risks in mind.

Mean reversion and crowding

Extreme winners often mean-revert. Buying at a peak can produce disappointing outcomes if investor expectations are already priced in.

Small-cap and single-event volatility

Small companies can spike on single catalysts (trial results, a contract win) and then retreat. Illiquid stocks can show outsized percentage moves that are hard to execute in practice.

Survivorship and selection bias

Published leaderboards that only show surviving winners or exclude delisted firms overstate long-term prospects. Transparent methodology helps readers understand these effects.

Market microstructure and after-hours moves

Significant news in after-hours or pre-market sessions can cause gaps that look dramatic in price-return lists but may be smoothed when using total-return or adjusted measures.

Tools and resources for tracking best performing stocks

Investors use a mix of free and paid tools to track winners:

Real-time movers pages (market data platforms and financial news sites) for intraday leaders.
Screeners with filters for market cap, volume and performance windows.
Watchlists and alerts to monitor price and news catalysts.

If you trade or monitor markets on an exchange, consider using a reputable platform with robust market data and order execution. Bitget offers trading tools and market screens for equities and derivatives, and Bitget Wallet is recommended when interacting with tokenized assets in the Web3 space. When tracking tokenized or onchain assets that represent commodities or metals, use wallets that support token standards and verifiable proofs of allocation.

Tax, regulatory, and trading considerations

Holding and trading best performing stocks has tax and regulatory consequences that vary by jurisdiction. Key points to note:

Short-term capital gains are often taxed at higher rates than long-term gains.
Wash-sale rules and local reporting obligations may affect realized-loss harvesting strategies.
Margin and leverage amplify returns and losses and require careful management.
Tokenized assets and securities token offerings may have additional regulatory constraints.

Always consult a qualified tax or legal advisor for personalized guidance.

Case studies and recent examples (2025–2026 context)

Below are summarized, verifiable examples that illustrate how companies and themes appeared among the best performing stocks recently. Dates and sources are noted for context.

AI and memory beneficiaries: As of January 28, 2026, market reporting showed memory-device makers and chip-equipment providers among the best performing stocks in recent weeks. Companies such as Sandisk, Western Digital and Micron produced outsized short-term gains amid hardware shortages that supported AI workloads (Market and sector coverage, January 2026). Semicap toolmakers like Lam Research, Applied Materials and KLA were also leaders in many mid-term lists because of demand for chip fabrication equipment (industry reports, January 2026).
Intel (INTC): As of January 2026, Intel had been one of the best-performing S&P 500 stocks year-to-date before issuing earnings guidance that cooled sentiment. Investopedia and other coverage noted that Intel shares had more than doubled over the prior 12 months and were up materially YTD, but a weaker-than-expected outlook on a quarter caused a sharp intraday pullback (Investopedia reporting, January 2026). This example highlights how fast leadership can reverse on updated guidance.
Magnificent Seven context: Coverage in early 2026 discussed the leadership and setups among the largest growth names. Alphabet led the group in 2025, and analysts highlighted Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft as names with potential setups into 2026, while also noting that high expectations can create pressure (Benzinga, January 2026). These large-cap leaders often appear on best performing stocks lists for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100.
Commodities and safe-haven assets: As of January 2026, gold and silver experienced major rallies. CoinDesk reported that a buying frenzy and safe-haven flows had pushed gold higher, making it one of the best-performing assets over the prior 12 months. Industry participants raised concerns about the difference between physical allocated holdings and so-called "paper gold" such as ETF shares, and promoted onchain, tokenized forms of gold for provable allocation (CoinDesk interviews with industry figures; CoinGecko holdings data, January 2026). This is an example of a non-equity asset outperforming broad equities and shows why cross-asset comparisons matter when evaluating best performing stocks versus other asset classes.

These case studies demonstrate the volatility, thematic drivers and rapid reversals that can affect lists of best performing stocks.

How publications differ: practical checklist for readers

When you read a list of best performing stocks, check the following:

Is the return price-only or total return?
What is the exact timeframe and cut-off date? (e.g., 1-year through Dec 31, 2025)
What universe was used (S&P 500, Nasdaq, all U.S.-listed)?
Were liquidity and market-cap filters applied?
How were corporate actions treated? Were splits and dividends adjusted?

A transparent methodology increases confidence in the list.

Best performing stocks vs. best performing ETFs and tokens

Winners can be tracked at the stock or ETF level. Sector and thematic ETFs sometimes cluster the same winners and can be used for diversified exposure. For tokenized real-world assets (RWA) such as tokenized gold, custody and allocation proofs become essential to evaluate whether a token truly represents allocated physical metal. As reported by CoinDesk and CoinGecko in January 2026, tokenized gold that links each token to a specific vault bar aims to solve problems associated with unallocated "paper gold."

If you interact with tokenized assets, use secure wallets and platforms. Bitget Wallet supports a range of tokens and prioritizes verifiable metadata when available.

Building your own screening process

A practical, repeatable screening process for identifying best performing stocks might include:

Choose universe: S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Russell 2000, or all U.S.-listed.
Select timeframe(s): daily, YTD, 1-year, 3-year etc.
Apply liquidity and market-cap filters.
Decide on price vs total return.
Compute volatility and drawdown to screen for extreme-risk names.
Cross-check major news and filings for upcoming catalysts or triggers.

Document your methodology so results are reproducible and comparable over time.

Practical reading list and data pages

Use a combination of real-time movers pages, historical return tables and screener tools. Examples of helpful resources include market movers pages, ETF and index research, and subject-matter reports covering semiconductors, memory, commodities and macro drivers. For trading or custody, consider established platforms with robust market data and secure wallet options such as Bitget and Bitget Wallet for tokenized assets.

References and source notes (selected)

As of January 28, 2026, market coverage and leaderboard reporting summarized from major financial outlets and data providers, including CNBC-style year-in-review pieces and S&P/Nasdaq leaderboards (industry coverage, January 2026).
As of January 28, 2026, CoinDesk reporting and interviews highlighted the gold rally and concerns about "paper gold," and discussed tokenized, onchain gold (CoinDesk, January 2026). CoinGecko data reporting indicated holdings of XAUT tokens by institutional treasuries (CoinGecko data cited in CoinDesk coverage, January 2026).
As of January 28, 2026, Investopedia and related market reporting discussed Intel (INTC) action and analyst commentary after a late-January earnings outlook (Investopedia, January 2026).
As of January 28, 2026, Benzinga coverage discussed leadership within the Magnificent Seven and mid-term setups for Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft (Benzinga, January 2026).
MarketBeat, TradingView, Yahoo Finance and other screeners provide real-time mover lists and historical gainers used by many publishers for intraday leaderboards (platform data, January 2026).

Note: Dates above are provided for context. Each source uses its own methodology; readers should consult the original publisher for replication.