Four Stocks Accounted for Half of the S&P 500's Gain in 2026
In 2026, four stocks—Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Micron Technology (MU), and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)—accounted for approximately half of the total gain seen by the S&P 500 index. While the market-weighted version of the index rose around 12%, the equal-weight variant gained only about 9%. This discrepancy highlights that a small number of large-cap stocks, particularly in the semiconductor sector, have driven much of the year's performance. Nvidia and Apple alone made up nearly 15% of the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF at the start of the year. Their strong gains—24% for Nvidia and 22% for Apple—significantly contributed to the index’s rise. Micron Technology, despite a recent decline in its stock price (-2.05%), saw an impressive surge earlier this year with shares nearly quadrupling (about +285%). AMD also performed well (+188%) during the same period. The performance of these four stocks masked weaker returns from other large companies like Tesla and Microsoft, both of which underperformed compared to the average stock in the index. This concentration effect means that future declines among these top performers could have a more pronounced impact on S&P 500 funds.
Topics: Apple Inc. Equal Weight Index Nvidia S&P 500 stock performance