The Rundown - Deep Dive: The Top 5 S&P 500 Stocks of 2024

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

In this weekend's Deep Dive episode ofThe Rundown, we’re recapping 2024’s top five best-performing S&P 500 stocks. From AI giants to unexpected names, we’re breaking down why these companies skyrocketed, the factors driving their success, and what to watch for moving forward. Which stock took the top spot? Hint: It was up a staggering 340%! Tune in to find out.Follow our new Instagram account ⁠⁠@TheRundownDailyThe content of the video is for general and informational purposes only. All views presented in this show reflect the opinions of the guest and the host. You should not take a mention of any asset, be it cryptocurrency or a publicly traded security as a recommendation to buy, sell or hold that cryptocurrency or security. Guests and hosts are not affiliated with or endorsed by Public Holdings or its subsidiaries. You should make your own financial and investment decisions or consult respective professionals. Full disclosures are in the channel description. Learn more at Public.com/disclosures.Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. There is a possibility of loss with any investment. Historical or hypothetical performance results, if mentioned, are presented for illustrative purposes only. Do not infer or assume that any securities, sectors or markets described in the videos were or will be profitable. Any statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements are strictly based on the current views, opinion, or assumptions of the person presenting them, and should not be taken as an indicator of performance nor should be relied upon as an investment advice.

Welcome to another weekend deep dive edition of the rundown. In today's episode, we are looking back at 2024 and highlighting the top five best performing stocks in the S&P 500. Some of the companies on this list you've definitely heard of. There are a couple relatively unknowns, and there's one company in the top five that was a big surprise to me. So in today's show, we're going to talk about each of these companies and break down while their stock rallied in 2024.

All right, let's get into it. Now, before we start, let me just set the stage rule. quick. All right, because 2024 was another fantastic year for the stock market. The S&P 500 was up 23%. The NASDAQ was up 29%. The economy remained resilient. Inflation continued to cool. Companies earnings grew. And the Fed cut interest rates for the first time since 2020. And we have to mention AI because it continued to be the star of the show. So it shouldn't be very surprising that some of the best performing stocks in 24 were AI related. But it wasn't just AI companies that had a huge year. So, the Let's just dive into the list.

All right. We'll start with the fifth best performing stock in the S&P and work our way to number one. Coming in at number five is Axon. Their stock was up 130% in 2024, adding more than $25 billion in market cap in the process. Now, Axon might not be a household name. They make technology and weapons for law enforcement, first responders, and military agencies. So they sell tasers and body cans. But not just that.

They also sell cloud and technology services to these agencies as well. And the company has been growing like crazy. They reported a 30% annual growth in each of the three quarters this year. In fact, they reported a 25% growth in 11 straight quarters in a row. And if you look at their stock chart, you'll see two huge jumps in their stock price during the last two quarterly reports. In other words, they crushed earnings. And what stood out to me was the company's annual reoccurring revenue was up 36% to $885 million. And look, we know that investors love reoccurring revenue.

revenue and the subscription business model. And one advantage that Axon has is that their customers are police departments and military agencies, which are unlikely to just cancel their subscriptions, you know? On top of that, the company is working on emerging products like an AI product called Axon AI, because of course they are. And they also are working on a first responder drone called Axon Air. So I guess it's not surprising to see why Axon's stock was up so much. The company has exposure to all the hype and buzzy businesses, AI, drone, cloud, and that caught the attention of investors in 2024. All right, let's move on and talk about the fourth best performing stock in the S&P 500 in

2024. United Airlines. This was a shocker to me, all right? Their stock was up 135% in 2024. I did not expect to see an airline on this list, given all the hype and attention to AI and tech. United had a fantastic year. Their stock has finally returned to pre-COVID levels, as the airline benefited from

healthy travel demands, improved fundamentals, and also less pricing pressure by budget airlines, which improved the company's revenues and profits. And they're also expecting a strong 2025. And what's crazy is the stock didn't start taking off until September when it was trading at just $44 a share. It's now at $95 a share, thanks to some solid earnings. In Q2, the company said they flew their most customers ever for a second quarter. And they followed that up by having the busiest third quarter ever measured by revenue passenger miles, which is a key metric used to measure air travel demand. You know, it did feel like half the people, I knew flew to Europe or Japan this year based on my Instagram feed.

In fact, I was also in Europe this past summer. So I guess the numbers check out. United Airlines says one of the reasons for increased revenue and earnings is due to airlines across the board trimming their capacity. Essentially, airlines removed supply while demand remained strong, which allowed United Airlines to charge more for tickets. The company also announced a $1.5 billion share repurchase program back in October, which was the first since the pandemic.

And United Airlines also signed a deal with Elon Musk. is SpaceX to add Starlink to all of its planes and provide free Wi-Fi to their passengers. That to me is the biggest news right there. I can't wait for this thing to get rolled out. So yeah, United Airlines, fourth best performing stock in 2024 and really standing out from the rest of the companies on this list. All right, moving on. Let's talk about the third best performing stock in 2024. It's this little known company called Nvidia. You might have heard of them. Invita shares were up 170% in 2024, adding more than $2 trillion in March. market cap in the process. I mean, that is mind-blowing. Invita continues to be the big winner of

AI. Their AI chips are still in huge demand right now. Their data center revenue, which includes their AI chips, grew by more than 100% according to their latest earnings report. So they're still doubling revenue year over year. I got to give it to Nvidia. They just continue to exceed expectations. Every one of their earnings report this past year felt like a make or break moment for them and the overall stock market. Investors were just holding their breath, waiting to see if Nvidia could continue to exceed expectations, and they did every time. They never missed on earnings. So, Nvidia being on this list should be no surprise to most people. I mean, they've been the stock market darling for almost two years now. What is interesting, though, is that most of Nvidia's stock

gains happened in the first half of 2024. The stock went up more than 150%. In the second half of the year, the stock was up only around 15%. So it's going to be really interesting to see what happens to Nvidia in 2025, because they are facing increasing competition from me. big tech rivals. I'm not saying it's impossible, but I would be shocked if InVideo was a top five best performing stock in the S&P in 2025. Still love you, Jensen. All right, now we are on to the top two. Both of these companies were added to the S&P 500 this year, and I'm really glad that they were. The second best performing stock in the S&P 500 in 2024 was Vistrakorp. The stock was up more than 250%. Now, not many people have probably heard of VistraCorp, all right? They're an energy

company based out of Dallas, and they've been a big beneficiary of AI. See, Vistra owns and operates several nuclear plants, and nuclear energy is getting a lot of attention these days from big tech companies. Big tech companies are rushing to build these AI data centers, and these data centers require a ton of energy. So they're turning to nuclear as a source of that energy. And since there's a finite number of companies that have an expertise in the nuclear space, Vistra has been able to capitalize on this opportunity. And that's got investors really excited. about Vistra's upside and future potential. Vistra's already putting up some strong financial numbers.

In their Q3 earnings report, they reported a 54% increase in their revenue. They also saw an increase in their profits as well. So all that pushed Vistra stock to record highs in 2024. And it's definitely a sector that I'm going to be keeping an eye on in 2025. And now for the best performing stock in the S&P 500 in 2024 was Pallantir. One of the internet's most talked about favorite stocks, This company saw their stock jump 340%.

The rally in Palantir was driven by AI. What else, right? But specifically for military applications. See, most of Palantir's business comes from the U.S. government. The company says growth in its U.S. government business, which includes defense and intelligence agencies, is surging because those agencies are embracing artificial intelligence.

And that's what Palantir is able to provide. In 2024, Palantir secured a number of big-time military contracts. It won a $480 million contract from the Pentagon. It was also awarded a $100 million contract to expand its Maven smart system access to include the Army, Air Force, Space Force, Navy, and the U.S. Marine Corps. And just looking at their numbers, in Q3, Palantir generated the largest profit in its 20-year history, reaching $144 million in net income. So shout out to Palantir, and shout out to all the Palantir fanboys. They've been a vocal group on the internet for like two or three years now, and they're really having

their moment. And I'm also really happy that Palantir was added to the S&P back in September. I think Palantir is going to be another company to keep a close eye on in 2025 as more and more government agencies all over the world embrace AI, even though I'm not still 100% sure what Palantir really does. All right, guys, that's it for this week's deep dive episode. Thanks for hanging out with me this weekend as a yap about the S&P 500's biggest stars of 2024. If you guys enjoyed today's episode and have some free time this weekend, consider giving us a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify and drop your thoughts or suggestions on future topics so we should cover on a weekend deep dive episode in the comments on Spotify. And if you want to see clips of

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