In this article, we will look at the 10 Best Performing Small Cap Stocks So Far in 2026.

On April 28, Kate Moore, CIO of Citi Wealth, appeared on CNBC’s ‘Money Movers’ to talk about market themes as earnings season gets underway, the impacts on artificial intelligence, and more.

Talking about the hiccup in tech, she was of the view that we are going to go through this over and over again, which includes worries about whether or not spending can keep up. Every time a company speaks now, it is about raising its capex spending. She sees these moments in the market, like today, as opportunities for people to re-up their exposure if they have been skeptical. Her view is that AI capex spending will be a “massive” driver of earnings and of the market going forward, but it is going to be volatile.

READ ALSO: 8 Best Copper Stocks to Invest In Now AND 10 Cheap Stocks to Buy Under $20. 

Moore further stated that calling something cheap or expensive right now is a little fraught, and so she would suggest that the market is appropriately valued for some of the growth opportunities in AI. People who get themselves anxious about headline multiples forget that analysts are quite slow to revise up their earnings expectations. Therefore, forward P/Es may not actually reflect the Buy side or what the investor community actually expects.

With these broader market trends in view, let’s narrow down and look at the best-performing small-cap stocks so far in 2026.

Our Methodology

We used the Finviz stock screener to identify the best small-cap stocks that have exhibited strong share price performance YTD, and limited our final selection to companies that have recently reported noteworthy developments likely to impact investor sentiment. These stocks are also popular among analysts and elite hedge funds, as of Q4 2025. The stocks are arranged in ascending order of hedge fund sentiment, which we sourced from Insider Monkey’s database.

Note: All data was recorded on April 28.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).

10 Best Performing Small Cap Stocks So Far in 2026

10. Blue Moon Metals Inc. (NASDAQ:BMM)

Blue Moon Metals Inc. (NASDAQ:BMM) is one of the best performing small cap stocks so far in 2026. Blue Moon Metals Inc. (NASDAQ:BMM) announced on April 27 its entry into an agreement to acquire certain claims adjacent to the company’s Springer Mine, located in Pershing County, Nevada, USA, from GoldPlay LLC and Robert Schafer for consideration of 188,199 common shares of Blue Moon, US$1 million cash, and a sliding scale gross revenue royalty on the concessions.

Christian Kargl-Simard, CEO of Blue Moon Metals Inc. (NASDAQ:BMM), stated that after the acquisition of the Springer Mine and Processing Plant, which closed on February 10, 2026, the present acquisition strengthens the company’s land position while also strategically consolidating claims around the mine. Kargl-Simard added that the company controls the district of the historical claims around the Springer Tungsten deposit.

Management further reported that the claims comprise nine unpatented mineral claims and cover a portion of some historically identified veins, including the Stank deposit, the O’Byrne deposits, and a portion of the Sutton deposit.

Blue Moon Metals Inc. (NASDAQ:BMM) is involved in the acquisition and exploration of mineral resource properties, with a focus on Blue Moon zinc and Yava properties.

9. Adlai Nortye Ltd. (NASDAQ:ANL)

Adlai Nortye Ltd. (NASDAQ:ANL) is one of the best performing small cap stocks so far in 2026. On April 20, H.C. Wainwright lifted the price target on Adlai Nortye Ltd. (NASDAQ:ANL) to $20 from $16 while maintaining a Buy rating on the shares. The firm told investors in a research note that the company’s lead asset, AN9025, demonstrates “potential best-in-class potency”, positioning it as a differentiated next-generation small molecule pan-RAS(ON) inhibitor.

In a separate development, Adlai Nortye Ltd. (NASDAQ:ANL) announced on April 16 that it has entered into a securities purchase agreement for a private investment in public equity financing that is anticipated to result in gross proceeds of approximately $150.0 million. This is before deducting placement agent fees and other private placement expenses.

Management reported that the oversubscribed transaction includes participation from both new and existing institutional investors, with new investors including Soleus Capital, Perceptive Advisors, ADAR1 Capital Management, MPM BioImpact, Octagon Capital, Eventide Asset Management, Kalehua Capital, and DAFNA Capital Management, and more. Adlai Nortye Ltd. (NASDAQ:ANL) also reported additional participation from existing investors, including Cormorant Asset Management, Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Balyasny Asset Management, Casdin Capital, Squadron Capital Management, and Superstring Capital Management, etc.

Adlai Nortye Ltd. (NASDAQ:ANL) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company involved in the development of cancer therapies for patients with various stages of tumors. The company offers AN0025, which is a clinical-stage, potential EP4 antagonist designed to modulate the tumor microenvironment.