These Stocks Have Done Something

But this is not a positive thing for everyone; it’s just as likely to cause the opposite result in some cases. That was my first reaction when I looked it up online to see how many winners had shown their face so far in 2025 – there are only 28% of S&P 500 components that have had YTD outperforming performance from the beginning of the year up to mid-April.

Source: Business Insider

Chart: Slickcharts

. Against such a backdrop, serving up five good stock picks seems like a piece of cake. Each one combines the specific strength of its own industry with a robust foundation; over 70% accounts for its peers to eat dust.

CVS Health Corp

YTD Return: 49.90%

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CVS is the top performer in the S&P 500. Up nearly 50% this year to mid-April. Cencora Inc (COR)

YTD Return: 27.62%

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Formerly AmerisourceBergen, Cencora has capitalized on surging demand for specialty pharmaceuticals. In February, the drug distributor raised its fiscal 2025 adjusted guidance to $15.25–15.55—above consensus expectations—after reporting a 13.6% jump in its U.S. Healthcare Solutions segment, powered by sales of GLP-1 therapies and oncology drugs

Reuters

. With an aging population and biotech innovation fueling intricate, high-margin drug volumes, Cencora’s logistics network and customer relationships have underpinned a 27.6% year-to-date stock gain, outshining most of its pharmaceutical-services peers.

5. Consolidated Edison Inc (ED)

YTD Return: 25.63%

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Consolidated Edison’s regulated utility franchise in New York City has proven a defensive haven amid market volatility. On February 20, the company beat fourth-quarter profit estimates, citing steady electricity and gas demand across its 4.7 million-customer footprint, and reaffirmed its 2025 earnings guidance of $5.50–5.70 per share

Reuters

. Its status as a high-quality, dividend-paying utility has attracted income-seeking investors, supporting a 25.6% YTD return even as broader markets faltered.These five stocks share a common thread: each operates in sectors—or in niches within sectors—that have outperformed during the year’s policy-driven volatility, whether through safe-haven demand, defensive business models, or exposure to secular growth trends. In a market where only around 30% of S&P 500 constituents have generated positive returns, identifying such leaders is crucial for investors seeking to navigate a narrow field of winners; its appeal has been as a defense. With the demand and investors needing stability, Codis’ two-fold system for pharmacy insurance not only prevailed but also from March until May, when those quarters turned profitable as well. In February it produced some fourth-quarter results which outstripped estimates of profit—$1.19 against a predicted $0.93 cents per share—thus lifting full-year guidance to an adjusted $5.75–6.00 per share

Reuters

Newmont Corp (NEM)

YTD Return: 47.98%

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. As the world’s largest gold miner, Newmont has been substantially favored by the surge of gold as a safe haven asset. Bullion prices reached new peaks, peaking out at more than $3,350 per ounce in April. This was fuelled wholly by, meanwhile while I Fu gains, geopolitical unrest abroad and fears of tariffs at home which were only held back when President Mica relented

Investopedia

. On February 20, Newmont reported fourth-quarter profit that beat the Street’s estimate, with gold production jumping 9.2% and realizations a year-on year rise nearly 32% to $2,643 per ounce of

Reuters

Its leveraged cost structure means that the majority of any increase in profits flows straight back to the bottom line. This is why income at the miner was sharply increased with free cash of approximately $48 per share.

Philip Morris International (PM)

YTD-Return: 35,61 %

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 Tobacco giant Philip Morris continues its pivot toward reduced-risk products. On February 2, PMI increased its mid-range profit expectations for 2025 because of strong demand from consumers of their ZYN nicotine pouches and ongoing Rollouts of the IQOS heated-tobacco device.