25 Best-Performing Stocks in 2025 (As of July)

Last year, the S&P 500 index surged about 23%, marking the second year in a row the broad index notched gains of more than 20%. You'll have to look back to the mid-1990s to see the last time that occurred^[0]

And thus far in 2025, volatility has been the story of the S&P 500. President Trump's tariff plan, unveiled on April 2, sent stocks into a tailspin, but only one month later, they'd recaptured those losses. The S&P 500 stocks below are ranked by one-year returns, which could perhaps show resilience in the face of a turbulent market. But we've also included their year-to-date returns as well, which may shed a little more light on how these stocks are performing in a very period filled with uncertainty.

The only stocks with strong one-year returns but negative year-to-date returns right now include Tesla, which is down over 20% YTD, and United Airlines, which is down around 15%.

» Do you have the right brokerage? See our list of the best brokerage accounts for stock trading

Best stocks by one-year performance

Note that these are the best stocks in the S&P 500 right now, based on one-year performance. But that doesn't mean that they're the best stocks to invest in. Predicting the future of even the current top-performing stocks is a job even the pros haven’t mastered. And the best stocks for your portfolio aren’t necessarily the best stocks for someone else’s portfolio.

For example, a young person who is looking to aggressively grow their retirement savings (since they have a lot of time to ride out the stock market highs and lows) might gravitate toward growth stocks for their high-risk, high-reward volatility. On the other hand, a retiree who is looking for passive income might prefer predictable dividend stocks like the dividend aristocrats, which are relatively stable and typically increase their dividend payments over time.

7 best stocks to buy this month, according to analysts

If you're looking for an expert opinion, here are the seven best stocks in the S&P 500 ranked by analyst consensus recommendation, where a "1" is equivalent to a "strong buy" indicator, and "5" is considered a "strong sell." Remember, though, that even the pros have a hard time picking winning stocks. This list is updated monthly.

How to find the best stocks for your portfolio

Choosing good stocks for your portfolio can be a time-consuming task, and you need to look beyond performance metrics like the ones on this page. Yes, it's a good sign if a stock is able to outperform during periods of market volatility and the broad market declines like we saw in 2022. But as referenced above, there are a number of other factors to consider.

Beyond your own personal risk tolerance and how long you plan to invest, strategic investors do significant research into a company before buying its stock. They perform fundamental analysis, which involves looking at the company's financial statements and considering how economic factors might influence the stock's future performance.

Many investors also do technical analysis of a stock, which means analyzing historical movements in the stock's price to attempt to predict future movements. If you want to go this route, we have detailed overviews of how to research stocks and how to read stock charts, including key terms to know.

An alternative to stock picking

If all of the above sounds like a lot of work, it is. The fact that picking stocks is so difficult leads many investors to turn to index funds and exchange-traded funds, which bundle many stocks together.

When you invest in lots of stocks at once through index funds they have a lot of power: The S&P 500 index — which includes around 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. — has posted an average annual return of nearly 10% since 1928.

An S&P 500 index fund or ETF will aim to mirror the performance of the S&P 500 by investing in the companies that make up that index. Likewise, investors can track the Dow Jones Industrial Average with an index fund tied to that benchmark. If you want to cast a wider net, you could purchase a total stock market fund, which will hold thousands of stocks.

Within index funds, the best stocks balance out the worst ones — and you don’t have to forecast which is which. That’s why many financial advisors think low-cost index funds and exchange-traded funds should form the basis of a long-term portfolio.

» Learn more: How to invest index funds

Managing expectations

Index funds won’t beat the market. They aren’t supposed to. An index fund’s goal is to match the its index's performance. There are funds that track a particular type of asset, such as AI stock ETFs or tech stock ETFs.

Index funds are inherently diversified, at least among the segment of the market they track. Because of that, all it takes is a few of these funds to build a well-rounded, diversified portfolio. They’re also less risky than attempting to pick a few could-be winners out of a lineup of stocks.

The downside: Some might argue they’re significantly less thrilling than chasing the current best stocks. If you’re seeking that stock-picking rush, you might consider a happy middle ground: Financial advisors often suggest dedicating a small portion of your portfolio to predicting the next big thing, and use index funds for the rest.

» Check out: S&P 500 ETFs