The strongest stocks of 2026
The 25 top-performing US stocks of 2026 year-to-date, market cap $4B and above, refreshed every trading day — the raw material the watchlist is drawn from. Strength isn't an opinion; it's a scoreboard.
| # | Ticker | Group | Mkt cap | 1-month | YTD | Volatility (ADR) | $ Vol / day | Off 52-wk high |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SNDK | AI Memory/Data Storage | $225.1B | -15% | +540% | 5.6% | $17,140M | -35.4% |
| 2 | MRNA | Healthcare | $57.8B | +126% | +394% | 9.9% | $5,329M | -17.6% |
| 3 | TWST | Healthcare | $8.9B | +15% | +351% | 6.9% | $235M | -8.0% |
| 4 | DELL | Software | $374.2B | +17% | +347% | 5.9% | $4,848M | -2.3% |
| 5 | TXG | Healthcare | $9.2B | +25% | +346% | 6.0% | $186M | -6.7% |
| 6 | ERAS | Healthcare | $5.3B | -16% | +313% | 6.6% | $70M | -36.7% |
| 7 | IBRX | Healthcare | $8.3B | -0% | +299% | 4.9% | $69M | -36.4% |
| 8 | MXL | Technology | $6.3B | -18% | +299% | 6.5% | $147M | -45.8% |
| 9 | IOVA | Healthcare | $4.4B | +39% | +262% | 6.5% | $129M | -0.6% |
| 10 | MU | AI Memory/Data Storage | $1.0T | -8% | +225% | 3.9% | $23,468M | -26.2% |
| 11 | CORT | Healthcare | $12.1B | -5% | +221% | 3.9% | $102M | -11.5% |
| 12 | BE | Fuel Cells | $79.5B | +16% | +211% | 6.3% | $3,094M | -23.1% |
| 13 | ORKA | Healthcare | $5.6B | -17% | +209% | 5.4% | $78M | -19.0% |
| 14 | CLMT | Basic Materials | $5.1B | +20% | +192% | 4.4% | $63M | -1.8% |
| 15 | UMC | Technology | $56.2B | +15% | +187% | 3.0% | $222M | -22.2% |
| 16 | STX | AI Memory/Data Storage | $175.6B | -21% | +184% | 5.2% | $2,876M | -31.6% |
| 17 | DFTX | Healthcare | $5.0B | -16% | +183% | 5.1% | $82M | -23.8% |
| 18 | PBF | Energy | $9.0B | +1% | +180% | 5.9% | $239M | -8.1% |
| 19 | SYRE | Healthcare | $7.9B | -13% | +178% | 4.3% | $111M | -17.3% |
| 20 | AAOI | Photonics | $7.8B | -38% | +178% | 6.4% | $799M | -58.6% |
| 21 | INTC | AI Semis & Hardware | $509.7B | -2% | +174% | 4.2% | $8,671M | -29.0% |
| 22 | IRDM | Space | $5.0B | -6% | +172% | 1.9% | $38M | -17.3% |
| 23 | MRVL | AI Semis & Hardware | $201.2B | -2% | +170% | 5.1% | $5,407M | -30.4% |
| 24 | DK | Energy | $4.9B | +18% | +167% | 5.9% | $140M | -1.2% |
| 25 | SIMO | Technology | $8.1B | -12% | +160% | 6.3% | $199M | -32.1% |
Market data through 2026-09-16 · market cap ≥ $4B · Performance scoreboard, not a buy list — many of these are far too extended to touch. The Weekend Letter watchlist is where strength meets entry context. Not investment advice.
Where the leaders cluster
How many of the top 25 sit in each industry group. Concentration is the tell: a group with four or five names on this list is where institutional money has been going all year.
- Healthcare10 names
- AI Memory/Data Storage3 names
- Technology3 names
- AI Semis & Hardware2 names
- Energy2 names
- Basic Materials1 name
- Fuel Cells1 name
- Photonics1 name
- Software1 name
- Space1 name
How this scoreboard is built
Every US-listed stock with a market cap of $4 billion or more, a share price above $5 and real daily volume (ETFs excluded) is ranked by year-to-date price change, using the prior day's official close. The top 25 are shown with their industry group, one-month change, average daily range (a volatility gauge), average daily dollar volume, and distance from the 52-week high.
It is a scoreboard, not a watchlist. Many of the names here are far too extended to buy, and a few are already breaking down. The Weekend Letter draws its watchlist from lists like this one and adds the part that matters: an entry level, a stop, and a thesis written before the move. The vocabulary on this page is defined in the glossary.