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The S&P 500 ended 2020 with a profit of 16.26% for the year and closed on a record high on Thursday, a remarkable achievement after a drastic drop in February and March.
Some names in the broad market index have had particularly strong years, with six stocks rising more than 100%.
Top S&P 500 shares in 2020
| Ticker | Company | 2020 Price Yield |
|---|---|---|
| TSLA | Tesla | 743.1% |
| ETSY | Etsy | 301.6% |
| NVDA | Nvidia | 121.9% |
| PYPL | PayPal | 116.5% |
| LB | L Brand | 105.5% |
| ALB | Albermarle Corp. | 102.1% |
| AMD | Advanced micro-devices | 99.8% |
| FCX | Freeport-McMoRan | 98.6% |
The climb of the S&P 500 would have been even more dramatic if the top two names on the list had started the year in the index. Both electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla and e-commerce company Etsy were added to the S&P 500 during the last four months of the year.
These stocks also represent two of the most important themes in the market this year, as stocks linked to green energy have had strong years, just like those like Etsy that were well equipped for a home world.
The top eight performers also include two semiconductor stocks in Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. It was generally a strong year for the sector, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index rising 51%, even better than the technological Nasdaq Composite.
The S&P 500 is a market-weighted group of large-cap stocks in the US and is the benchmark against which many professional investors measure themselves. Very popular exchange traded funds and mutual comparisons are compared to the S&P 500, with more than $ 11 trillion linked to the index on or against the index as of December 2019, according to the S&P Dow Jones Indices.
The ingredients in the index are regularly shuffled throughout the year by a committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. The organization announced on Wednesday that Enphase Energy will join the index on January 7, instead of Tiffany & Co., which is acquired by LVMH.