Review of U.S. stocks in the first half of 2025: Top Gainers

After a year of recovery following adjustments, the U.S. stock market has largely regained lost ground, showcasing structural highlights.
From the AI wave and geopolitical shifts to policy fluctuations, the market faced significant challenges but quietly rebounded in the second quarter.
🔄 Overall Market Performance: A Clear V-Shaped Recovery
At the beginning of the year, the U.S. stock market started strong, driven by the AI boom.
Subsequently, policy uncertainties led to a pullback, with the three major indices turning negative at one point.
By June, as market sentiment improved, the major indices turned positive for the year:
Dow Jones: +1.28%
Nasdaq: +3.12%
S&P 500: +3.58%
🚀 Structural Highlights: Emerging Sectors Show Strong Performance
1️⃣ Newly Listed Stocks
Circle (CRCL.US): The first stablecoin company to go public surged over +618%
CoreWeave (CRWV.US): AI computing provider, up over +331% since listing
2️⃣ Safe-Haven Assets Rise
Gold hit a record high ($3500/oz), benefiting gold stocks
AngloGold Ashanti: +105%
Gold Fields (GFI.US): +84%
3️⃣ AI and Defense/Security Remain in Focus
Palantir (PLTR.US): +90%
Cloudflare (NET.US): +73%
4️⃣ Financial Sector Rebounds, Especially European Banks
Santander: +84%
Deutsche Bank: +76%
5️⃣ New Economy Concept Stocks Gain Strength
Robinhood: +120%
Roblox: +81%
📉 "Tech Giants" Show Diverging Trends
Strong Performers: $Meteoric Resources NL(MEI.AU) Meta (+22%), Microsoft, $NVIDIA(NVDA.US) Nvidia, $Netflix(NFLX.US) Netflix, $Taiwan Semiconductor(TSM.US) TSMC, Broadcom
Under Pressure: $Apple(AAPL.US) Apple (-20%), $Tesla(TSLA.US) Tesla (still down -15% YTD)
🔍 Institutional Views and Outlook
Morgan Stanley's recent report suggests:
S&P 500 target of 6500 points in the next 12 months
Focus on "high-quality, low-leverage, undervalued" sectors
Select opportunities in defensive industries
📌 In Summary:
In the first half of 2025, the U.S. stock market remains volatile but offers many noteworthy sectors and opportunities.
From AI and cryptocurrencies to gold and finance, each sector tells its own story.