Benzinga's 2025 Performance: A Tactical Review of the Year's Top Gainers and What's Next

The dominant market story of 2025 was a decisive rotation away from digital hype and toward tangible hardware scarcity. While the AI narrative remained central, the focus shifted from software promises to the physical infrastructure required to run it. This created a powerful catalyst for companies addressing critical bottlenecks in storage and energy, outperforming pure-play AI software.

The evidence is stark. The S&P 500's top performer was SanDisk Corp. (SNDK), which claimed the crown with a 559.4% return driven by explosive demand for AI flash storage. Similarly, Bloom Energy Corp. (BE) surged 291.2% by solving the fundamental power constraints facing data centers. This wasn't a broad market rally; it was a targeted trade in the physical layers of the AI stack. The market was pricing in a real-world scarcity of memory and power, rewarding companies that could turn high demand into operating leverage.

This shift was a direct response to the hardware constraints that had begun to limit the AI rollout. As the digital economy scaled, the need for high-capacity storage and reliable, high-density power became the new value drivers. The rotation was clear: while software leaders like Palantir still delivered strong gains, the biggest winners were those building the foundational bricks.

The momentum extended beyond individual stocks. Benzinga's own platform traffic reflects this infrastructure focus. The most-searched tickers for the year were SPY, TSLA, and NVDA. While NVDA is a chipmaker, its inclusion underscores the continued importance of the hardware supply chain. The search volume for these names, consistently ranking at the top, shows where retail and institutional traders were directing their attention and capital throughout the year. The catalyst was clear: follow the scarcity.

Performance vs. Prediction: The Market's 2025 Outcome

The S&P 500's final tally for 2025 was a solid 17.1% gain. That number landed squarely in the top tier of expectations, hitting the upper end of the range Benzinga readers had predicted. In January, a clear majority-26%-had forecast a gain of 16% or more, and they were exactly right. The second most popular call, for an 11% to 15% rise, was slightly conservative. The key takeaway is that the market's direction was correctly anticipated, even if the specifics of individual winners were not.

This success story unfolded despite a backdrop of persistent fears. Headlines were filled with warnings of a tech bubble and geopolitical tensions, yet the rally in AI infrastructure proved resilient. The market's performance was not a broad, speculative surge, but a targeted rotation into the physical layers of the AI stack. This was the exact trend Benzinga's own coverage highlighted as the year's defining catalyst. The evidence is in the winners: SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) and Bloom Energy Corp. (BE) led the charge, their massive returns a direct result of solving real-world bottlenecks in storage and power. The market was pricing in tangible scarcity, not just digital hype.

The contrast is telling. While readers were largely correct on the index's overall path, they were notably wrong on the top individual performers. They overwhelmingly picked NVIDIA (NVDA) to be the top Magnificent Seven gainer, but Alphabet (GOOGL) outperformed it. This misstep underscores how the rotation away from pure-play chips and toward infrastructure companies like storage and energy providers was a more powerful narrative in 2025 than the market's initial expectations allowed for. The event-driven strategist's lesson is clear: the catalyst was a shift in focus, and the winners were those who addressed the new value drivers.

Catalysts and Risks: What to Watch in 2026

The blueprint for 2026 is clear: follow the scarcity. The 2025 market defined itself by a decisive rotation toward the physical layers of the AI stack, rewarding companies that solved critical bottlenecks in storage and energy. That trend is the primary catalyst for the coming year. The focus will remain on firms that can secure competitive moats in memory, storage, and power-the tangible pillars required to keep the digital economy running. The evidence is in the winners: SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) and Bloom Energy Corp. (BE) delivered staggering returns by addressing these exact constraints. Expect the market to continue pricing in hardware scarcity, with companies like Micron and Western Digital also in the spotlight for their roles in the AI infrastructure build-out.

Yet a significant risk looms: a valuation reset if hardware demand slows. The current momentum is built on high, sustained demand. Any sign of inventory correction or a cooling in capital expenditure from tech giants could quickly expose a divergence between stock performance and underlying fundamentals. The market has been generous to these names; a shift in the narrative from "scarcity" to "build-out complete" would be a direct threat to the rally. Investors must monitor for early signals of this demand cycle peak, as the infrastructure trade is inherently cyclical.

On the tactical front, one tool offers a disciplined way to spot potential catalysts before they become obvious: Schedule 13D filings. When an investor crosses the 5% ownership threshold and signals an intent to be active, it's a clear signal that someone sees a gap between price and value. These filings, as Benzinga's analysis suggests, can be early warnings of a value gap and potential catalyst. This week's focus on names like MYO and LAKE shows the strategy in action-looking for situations where value, neglect, and the potential for corporate action intersect. For the event-driven strategist, these filings are a checklist for early positioning, offering a way to be ahead of the next wave of fundamental change.