In this article, we will look at the 10 Best Performing Stocks in May.
May 2026 proved to be a good month for the American stock market, as the S&P 500 gained around 5.12% to top 7,500 points, and the NASDAQ Composite also gained roughly 7.8% to top 27,000 points. On May 26, Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, appeared on CNBC for an interview. Yardeni recently raised his S&P 500 year-end target from 7,700 to 8,250. He believes that the index will surpass the 10,000 mark by the end of the decade.
He noted that the reason behind these targets is earnings growth, which he believes has been driving the markets higher. He added that it is not FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), but FEMO (Fabulous Earnings Momentum), which has been leading the markets. Yardeni also highlighted that there is still a tremendous amount of capital which is waiting to be invested in the American market. Moreover, he noted that most of the recent market pull-backs have proved to be attractive buying opportunities. Yardeni remains bullish on the overall market health and believes earnings momentum will drive growth in the future as well.
With that, let’s take a look at the 10 Best Performing Stocks in May.
Stocks
Our Methodology
To curate the list of 10 Best Performing Stocks in May, we used the Finviz stock screener and Insider Monkey’s hedge funds database. Using the screener, we aggregated a list of stocks that have gained more than 50% in May 2026 and ranked them in ascending order of their performance. We have also added the number of hedge fund holders, sourced from Insider Monkey’s database. We have limited our final selection to companies that have recently reported noteworthy developments likely to impact investor sentiment.
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. Insider Monkey’s quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 599.2% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 372 percentage points (see more details here).
10 Best Performing Stocks in May
10. NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP)
Performance in May 2026: 60.33%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 38
NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) gained more than 60% in May 2026. Much of these gains came after the company posted strong results for fiscal Q4 2026 earnings released on May 28. The stock has gained more than 26% since the release. NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) ranks among our Best Performing Stocks in May.
During the quarter, the company posted $1.95 billion in revenue, reflecting a 12% year-over-year increase and ahead of the Street’s anticipation of $1.87 billion. The EPS of $2.43 also topped the expectations of $2.27. The quarter was recognized as record-breaking as the net revenue, gross profit, operating income, cash flow from operations, and free cash flow reached record highs.
Management highlighted the all-flash array business as a standout performer with a record Q4 revenue of $1.2 billion, reflecting 18% year-over-year growth. Moreover, public cloud revenue also reached a record $182 million in Q4, growing 11% annually.
Recently, on June 2, Goldman Sachs raised its price target on NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) from $127 to $200, while maintaining a Buy rating on the stock. The firm noted that the company delivered better than expected Q4 earnings and believes that its broad portfolio of solutions and consumption models can position the company to benefit from on-premise AI infrastructure buildout.
NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) provides software, systems, and services for managing and sharing data on-premises. The company also provides private and public clouds worldwide. It operates in two segments: hybrid cloud and public cloud.
9. Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX)
Performance in May 2026: 61.41%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 59
Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) was a standout performer in May 2026 with a share price gain of more than 61%. Much of the gains, almost 40%, came in a single day after the company reported its fiscal Q4 2026 earnings on May 6. Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) is also one of the Best Performing Stocks in May.
Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) wrapped up fiscal year 2026 on a strong note, reporting full-year net sales of $27.9 billion, up 8% year-over-year, with Q4 alone delivering $7.5 billion, reflecting a 17% increase from the prior year period. A key highlight was margin consistency. Flex posted its sixth consecutive quarter with an adjusted operating margin of 6% or greater, with Q4 coming in at 6.7%. Full-year adjusted operating margin reached a record 6.3%. The company attributed its performance to disciplined execution, targeted acquisitions, and strategic capital investments aligned to long-term growth.
Following the release, recently on May 28, Freedom Capital initiated coverage of Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) with a Hold rating and a $144 price target. The firm noted that the stock has gained more than 49% since the announcement of the Cloud and Power Infrastructure business spinoff. Freedom Capital believes that the rally has already priced in much of the upside and cautioned investors to wait until the stock price pulls back to the $120 to $130 range for an attractive valuation.
Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) is a global manufacturing and supply chain company that designs and builds products for industries including automotive, cloud computing, healthcare, and industrial technology.
8. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE)
Performance in May 2026: 64.51%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 58
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) has gained more than 60% during the last month, making it one of the Best Performing Stocks in May. Recently, on June 3, Goldman Sachs raised the price target on the stock from $32 to $79 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares.
The increased price target comes after Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) posted strong earnings for its fiscal second quarter of 2026. During the quarter, the company posted record revenue of $10.7 billion, reflecting 40% year-over-year increase and ahead of the consensus of $9.76 billion. Hewlett also posted all-time highs in gross margin, non-GAAP EPS, and free cash flow for the second quarter. Management highlighted profitability as GAAP gross margins reached 36.5% after increasing 810 basis points year-over-year.
The revenue was driven by the networking segment, which grew 148% year-over-year to $2.7 billion. The growth in this segment was aided by Juniper Networks’ acquisition. Moreover, the data center networking alone skyrocketed 233%, and the cloud & AI segment grew 23% to $7.7 billion, with server revenue up 33%. Based on the strong momentum, HPE raised its full-year fiscal 2026 guidance and now projects revenue growth of 29% to 33% and free cash flow of at least $3.5 billion.
Goldman Sachs noted that they have increased confidence in the company’s differentiated position in the AI infrastructure buildout, following the Q2 results.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) operates as a global technology provider focused on intelligent solutions. Its platforms help customers capture, analyze, and act on data from edge to cloud. The customer base ranges from small and medium-sized businesses to large enterprises and government organizations.
7. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)
Performance in May 2026: 65.94%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 87
With more than 65% gains in May 2026, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is one of the Best Performing Stocks in May. Recently, on June 3, Wedbush raised the price target on the stock from $300 to $340 and maintained an Outperform rating on the shares.
The rating follows Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)’s fiscal Q3 2026 earnings. During the quarter, the company posted $3 billion in revenue, reflecting 31% year-over-year growth and ahead of the consensus of $2.94 billion. The EPS of $0.85 also came in ahead of the expected $0.80.
CEO Nikesh Arora highlighted that the bookings accelerated for the company as enterprises increasingly rely on PANW to secure their AI infrastructure. Revenue was partly boosted by the recent acquisitions of CyberArk and Chronosphere. Moreover, the Next-Generation Security ARR also grew by 60% to exceed the $8 billion mark. Notably, the remaining performance obligations grew 36% to $18.4 billion, signaling strong future revenue visibility.
On the profitability front, the picture remained mixed on a GAAP basis, with a net loss of $177 million compared to a profit of $262 million a year ago, largely due to acquisition-related costs. However, non-GAAP net income rose to $684 million, reflecting healthy underlying business performance.
Wedbush sees PANW’s AI-native, integrated security platform as a key competitive advantage for winning new deals. The firm has placed it as a strong pillar in its “AI 30” list of top AI-era investments.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) provides network security solutions to service providers, enterprises, and government entities.
6. Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)
Performance in May 2026: 70.52%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52
Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) has gained more than 70% during the last month. Most of the gains came after the company posted strong results during fiscal Q1 2026 earnings, which were released on May 6. The stock is also among our Best Performing Stocks in May.
During the quarter, Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) posted $1.85 billion in revenue, reflecting a 20% year-over-year increase and ahead of Wall Street’s guidance of $1.73 billion. The EPS of $0.82 also came in ahead of the expectations of $0.62. Management attributed revenue growth to the Product revenue, which improved 41% year-over-year, reflecting strong hardware demand alongside its software business.
Profitability was equally solid as GAAP earnings per share grew 29% to $0.72, while non-GAAP EPS climbed 41% to $0.82. The company also generated record operating and free cash flow of $1.08 billion and $1.01 billion, respectively. Notably, the billings surged 31% to $2.09 billion. CEO Ken Xie attributed the results to broad-based demand and Fortinet’s long-standing strategy of converging networking and security. He also highlighted how an increasingly AI-driven threat environment is accelerating that demand.
Looking ahead, the company has guided revenue of up to $1.93 billion and billings up to $2.19 billion, suggesting continued momentum heading into the rest of the year.
Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) is engaged in offering cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security solutions.
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