Palantir and Vistra Lead the S&P 500's Top Performing Stocks of 2024

While the year is not over yet, it is close enough to start to compile year-end lists for the best performing stocks. We’ll start with the best performing stocks on the S&P 500. The S&P 500 had a much stronger year than most experts anticipated, as the consensus was for high single-digit to low-double-digit gains. Few thought the large-cap benchmark would surpass 6,000 and perform better than it did in 2023.

But as of December 16, that is just what happened, as the S&P 500 is up 27% year to date. That’s better than the 24% return in 2023. So, what were the top 5 stocks of 2024 on the S&P 500? One of them makes the list for the second year in a row, having been the best performing large cap stock of 2023. Palantir has been the top performer on the S&P 500 this year, returning 341% year to date and trading at around $75 per share. Palantir wasn’t even on the S&P 500 at the start of the year, but its meteoric rise thrust it into the index in October. The company, which provides data and analytics for corporations and governments, has been on a tear, fueled by “unrelenting AI demand” as CEO Alexander Karp said back in November. Specifically, Palantir’s platform analyzes massive amounts of data and develops generative AI models to improve decision-making. The company grew revenue 30% in its most recent quarter and upped its earnings and revenue guidance for 2025. While Palantir has tons of earnings power, its P/E ratio is through the roof at 318, so be wary of that. Vistra is the second-best performer on the S&P 500 this year, as the stock has returned 277% as of December 16. Vistra is an energy company that provides electric power to millions of customers across the U.S., specializing in nuclear, While energy stocks can be volatile, based on prices and economic conditions, Vistra has also benefitted from the AI boom, as it is one of leaders in powering AI data center

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