In aggregate, U.S. equities have had a nice run in 2019. The benchmark S&P 500 Index is up 15.4% year to date, though most of these gains happened during the first four months and stocks have more or less been range-bound since then.
Regardless, the U.S. stock market remains a healthy shade of green, and the following equities—presented in ascending order—have been the top performers this year as of September 30, according to FactSet.
20. Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) - YTD return of 54.7%
The company provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the global semiconductor, display and related industries.
19. Hess Corp. (HES) - 54.8%
This energy exploration and production company’s operations run the gamut from drilling to selling crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas.
18. Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS) - 55.0%
This measurement company provides electronic design and test instruments and systems and related software and software design tools used in the design, development, manufacture, installation, deployment and operation of electronics equipment.
17. Global Payments Inc. (GPN) - 55.3%
Offers payment and digital commerce solutions for credit cards, debit cards, electronic payments and check-related services.
16. Cintas Corp. (CTAS) - 55.3%
Along with being a purveyor of corporate identity uniforms through rental and sales programs, the company’s other business services include entrance mats, restroom cleaning services and supplies, carpet and tile cleaning services, first aid and safety services, and fire protection products and services.
15. Celgene Corp. (CELG) - 55.6%
The forte of this integrated global biopharmaceutical company is the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases through solutions in protein homeostasis, immuno-oncology, epigenetics, immunology and neuro-inflammation.
14. ANSYS Inc. (ANSS) - 56.1%
Its engineering simulation software and services are used by engineers, designers, researchers and students across a range of industries and academia including aerospace and defense, automotive, industrial equipment, electronics, biomedical, energy, materials and chemical processing, and semiconductors.
13. Advance Micro Devices (AMD) - 56.7%
This global semiconductor manufacturer produces chips for a host of end uses from desktop computers and servers to game consoles and professional graphics.
12. Western Digital Corp. (WDC) - 56.9%
Data storage devices and software are this company’s calling card. This includes hard disk drives, enterprise solid state drives and data center software.
11. Ball Corp. (BLL) - 57.6%
Most people are familiar with Ball’s glass mason jars, but this company makes it money as a supplier of metal packaging to the beverage, food, personal care and household products industries.
10. Coty Inc., Class A (COTY) - 57.6%
Despite its big year-to-date gains, this beauty company’s stock is still down 50% from where it was in February 2018.
9. Leidos Holdings Inc. (LDOS) - 59.0%
As a global science and technology company, Leidos provides technology and engineering services and solutions to the defense, intelligence, civil and health markets.
8. Target Corp. (TGT) - 63.3%
Who said traditional retail is dead? This seller of general merchandise has defended its turf against Amazon.com by bolstering its digital retail channels.
7. Synopsis Inc. (SNPS) - 63.7%
The company’s software, intellectual property and services are used in chip design, as well as the development of electronic systems and software code.
6. Equinix Inc. (EQIX) - 63.7%
This is a real estate investment trust that focuses on internet connection and data centers.
5. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX) - 64.6%
It operates an electronic trading platform enabling fixed-income market participants to trade corporate bonds and other types of fixed-income instruments using its trading technology. Institutional investors and broker-dealer firms are among the users of this trading platform.
4. Copart Inc. (CPRT) - 66.9%
The company offers online auctions and vehicle remarketing services in the U.S. and overseas.
3. Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) - 70.5%
As a supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry, the company designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes and services semiconductor processing systems that are used in the fabrication of integrated circuits.
2. KLA Corp. (KLAC) - 80.0%
Formerly known as KLA-Tencor Corp., the company supplies process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related nanoelectronics industries.
1. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) - 88.6%
Consumers and investors evidently have looked past the restaurant chain’s previous spate of food poisoning outbreaks and are all-in for its burritos and other fare.
