By Philip van Doorn
The S&amp;P 500 was up 9.6% for April, led by a gain of nearly 18% for the information technology sector
Three of the best-performing stocks among the S&amp;P 500 during April were Intel, Sandisk and AMD.
The S&amp;P 500 was up 9.6% for April, based on trading action early on Thursday. The large-cap U.S. benchmark index was headed toward its biggest one-month gain since November 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
This is how the 11 sectors of the S&amp;P 500 SPX fared for the month, based on early trading on April 30. All price changes in this article exclude dividends. The sectors are sorted by April's price gains, with the full index at the bottom:
The information technology sector was in the lead with a 17.7% gain, as semiconductor stocks continued their charge. The PHLX Semiconductor Index SOX was up 36.7% for April for a year-to-date gain of 46%, after rising 42% in 2025. This index of 30 chip makers and associated equipment manufacturers is tracked by the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX.
Intel (INTC) has been the biggest April winner in the S&amp;P 500. The stock more than doubled in price as the company continued its multiyear turnaround. Intel thrilled investors last week when it reported quarterly results that included revenue growth far ahead of analysts' expectations.
More: Is the Intel stock hype overdone? How to make sense of the latest big move.
Among the S&amp;P 500, 61% of stocks were up for April, based on early trading action on Thursday. There were 41 stocks among the 500 that were up at least 20% for the month and 66 that showed monthly gains of at least 15%.
Here are the 20 stocks in the S&amp;P 500 showing the largest gains for April, early on Thursday:
Click on the tickers for more about each company.
Read: Tomi Kilgore's guide to the information available on the MarketWatch quote page
More coverage of April winners in the IT space:
-- Sandisk shares have soared over 3,000% in a year. Is a stock split next?
-- AMD's stock is red-hot - and just hit a major milestone
-- Micron's stock is gaining. Here's why the semiconductor trade has sprung back to life.
-- Texas Instruments topped Wall Street's outlook on more than just data-center demand
Decliners
Bucking the trend, 10 stocks in the S&amp;P 500 that were down at least 15% for April:
-Philip van Doorn
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones &amp; Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-30-26 1026ET

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The S&P 500 experienced a significant rise of 9.6% in April, marking its best month since 2020, with the information technology sector leading at nearly 18%. Notable winners included Intel, which more than doubled in price, Sandisk, and AMD. The PHLX Semiconductor Index surged 36.7% for the month. Overall, 61% of S&P 500 stocks gained in April, with 41 stocks rising over 20%. However, 10 stocks saw declines of at least 15%.

- The S&P 500 increased by 9.6% in April, significantly boosted by a 17.7% gain in the information technology sector, particularly driven by semiconductor stocks.  
- Intel emerged as the top performer, more than doubling its stock price following strong quarterly results, while 61% of S&P 500 stocks recorded gains for the month.  
- Despite the overall positive trend, 10 stocks in the index experienced declines of at least 15% in April.

Dow Jones

S&P 500

Intel

Sandisk

Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF

iShares Core S&P 500

SPDR S&P Semicon

Direxion Semicon Bull 3X

Direxion Semicon Bear 3X

Direxion Daily AMD Bull 2X Shares

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Tech ETF

VG Total Stock

SPDR S&P 500

GraniteShares 2x Long INTC Daily ETF

VG Info Tech

iShares Semiconductor ETF

INTEL-T

Micron Tech

Sandisk - WI

These stocks have been the biggest winners during the S&P 500's best month since 2020