The US stock market has endured a turbulent start to the year, with global crude oil prices spiking up and inflation surging to its highest level in two years, driven largely by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Investor confidence was seen plunging to a record low this month as uncertainties over a peace deal fueled worst-case scenarios.

Despite the backdrop, 11 companies stood firmer, defying market pessimism and delivering remarkable three- to fivefold gains year-to-date.

In contrast, Wall Street’s major indices only posted modest gains, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, up 3.7 percent. The S&P 500 followed with a 2.85 percent jump, while the Dow Jones eked out a mere 1 percent gain.

In this article, we highlight the 10 top-performing companies in the first four months of the year and break down the key drivers behind their gains.

To come up with the list, we focused on stocks with a $2 billion market capitalization and ranked them based on their percentage price growth between December 31, 2025, and April 16, 2026.

11. Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:BW)

Babcock & Wilcox has seen its stock price climb by 191 percent year-to-date as investors cheered its increasing role in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector with the development of a $2.4 billion power generation project for a major AI infrastructure operator.

Last month, the company officially secured the green light for the construction of a 1.2-gigawatt power generation project for Base Electron—a company backed by Applied Digital Corp., primarily intended to support the latter’s power needs for its AI factory campuses.

Under the agreement, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:BW) will engineer, procure, and construct four natural gas-fired boilers and steam turbine generator systems capable of powering 300 megawatts, with the help of Siemens Energy, which will design and supply the steam turbine generator sets.

“Receiving full notice to proceed for this $2.4 billion project further underscores the strategic role B&W plays in supporting the rapidly expanding power needs of large‑scale AI data centers,” Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:BW) Chairman and CEO Kenneth Young said.

“Our natural gas-fired boilers and related technologies—as well as steam turbines supplied through an agreement with Siemens Energy—provide the reliable, high‑capacity energy generation on a schedule that is required for the grid today,” he added.

In other news, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:BW) narrowed its net loss attributable to shareholders last year by 39 percent to $36.2 million from $59.9 million in 2024. Revenues inched up by 1.1 percent to $587.7 million from $581 million year-on-year.

10. Enliven Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ELVN)

Enliven Therapeutics has seen its stock price soar by 194 percent year-to-date, at $45.34 versus $15.40 on December 31, with investor sentiment primarily bolstered by the growing interest in the chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treatment market following its competitor’s merger with one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

The rally was primarily bolstered by Merck’s acquisition of Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc.—one of Enliven Therapeutics Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ELVN) competitors—for $6.7 billion, in line with the pharmaceutical giant’s plan to diversify and strengthen its position in oncology.

The acquisition would add TERN-701 to Merck’s pipeline therapy candidates, which is undergoing a clinical trial to test its efficacy in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+), chronic phase CML, who were previously treated with at least one prior TKI and who experienced treatment failure, suboptimal response, or treatment intolerance.

For its part, Enliven Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ELVN) is underway with the early-stage study of its own treatment called ELVN-001 in patients with CML that is relapsed, refractory, or intolerant to available TKIs.

Under the study, 60 enrolled patients are testing the efficacy of ELVN-001 on different dosages—60 mg, 80 mg, and 120 mg once daily.

Following Merck’s announcement, investment firms Mizuho and Clear Street both maintained an “outperform” rating and “buy” recommendation for shares of Enliven Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ELVN).

9. Ultra Clean Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT)

Ultra Clean Holdings grew its share prices by 202 percent year-to-date—at already $76.44 on Thursday versus only $25.33 on December 31—with the rally primarily driven by the surging demand for semiconductors, sparking rosy prospects for its business.

Specifically, optimistic sentiment was helped by Intel Corp.’s bagging of major deals with multiple technology giants for the development of chips capable of meeting the needs of the AI-driven sector.

Intel is one of Ultra Clean Holdings Inc.’s (NASDAQ:UCTT) largest customers. Early this year, the former bagged multiple billion-dollar deals, including an $8.9-billion equity investment from the US government, in line with plans to support chip manufacturing locally.

The most recent deal it bagged this year was with Google, with the latter adopting Intel’s Xeon CPUs and Custom IPUs, which are capable of supporting a broad range of workloads such as AI training coordination, latency-sensitive inference, and general-purpose computing, among others.

Additionally, it raised $5 billion in fresh funds from the sale of a significant stake to Nvidia Corp., while partnering with the latter to develop multiple generations of custom data center and PC products that accelerate applications and workloads across hyperscale, enterprise, and consumer markets.

The deals sparked growth prospects for Ultra Clean Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT), given its status as one of Intel’s top suppliers last year, even receiving the latter’s EPIC Supplier Award.

Ultra Clean Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) earlier this year posted an optimistic outlook about its business, saying that it is “well positioned to capture an outsized share of the many opportunities ahead.”

For the first quarter alone, the company expects its revenues to either grow by 5 percent year-on-year to $545 million or dip by 2 percent to $505 million.

8. Ichor Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ:ICHR)

Ichor Holdings was able to grow its share prices by 245 percent year-to-date, with the rally primarily attributed to investors loading portfolios ahead of the results of its earnings performance for the first quarter of the year.

The company—a holding firm engaged in the design, engineering, and production of critical fluid delivery subsystems for semiconductor capital equipment—said that it is scheduled to release its financial and operating highlights for the period after market close on May 4. A conference call will be organized to elaborate on the results.

Earlier this year, Ichor Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ:ICHR) issued its revenue outlook for the first quarter, at $240 million, or 1.8 percent lower than the $244.5 million posted in the same period last year, but it will mark a 7.3 percent improvement from only $223.6 million quarter-on-quarter.

Further buoying sentiment is the strong demand for semiconductor products, which are sparking rosy prospects for its business.

Ichor Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ:ICHR) is a technology company supporting the chip industry through the development of highly specialized systems that control gases and chemicals when making computer chips.

Last year, Ichor Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ:ICHR) widened its net loss by 153 percent to $52.78 million from $20.82 million in 2024. Net sales, however, grew by 11.6 percent to $947.6 million from $849 million year-on-year.

7. Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR)

Avis Budget has seen its stock price soar by 250 percent year-to-date—at $448.98 versus only $128.32 on December 31—primarily driven by a short squeeze in its stock amid geopolitical developments in the Middle East.

Much of the rally was seen earlier this week, amplified by the stock’s short interest, which forced bearish investors to rapidly cover positions as prices climbed.

It is also worth noting that Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) is a highly shorted company, with at least 20 percent of its float sold short, giving room for potential breakout rallies.

Short-selling aside, the rally can also be attributed to the uncertainties in the ongoing peace talks between the US and Iran, whose war over the past few weeks has sent global crude oil prices spiking.

This, on the other hand, sparked good news for used car and car rental stocks like Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) and Hertz Global Holdings, as travelers look for alternative modes of transportation to mitigate risks from the oil spikes and uncertainties.

Last year, the company narrowed its net loss by 51 percent to $889 million from $1.82 billion in 2024. Revenues decreased by 1.6 percent to $11.6 billion from $11.79 billion year-on-year.

In the fourth quarter alone, Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) incurred an attributable net loss of $747 million, or 61.8 percent lower than the $1.958 billion year-on-year. Revenues dipped 1.7 percent to $2.66 billion from $2.7 billion year-on-year.

6. ImmunityBio Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX)

ImmunityBio has seen its price surge by 266 percent year-to-date—with shares already at $7.25 versus only $1.98 on December 31—with investor appetite primarily fueled by growth prospects from its future global expansion to 34 new markets.

This followed developments from its bladder cancer treatment, Anktiva, which propelled the company’s full-year 2025 revenues by 671 percent to $113 million from only $14.7 million in 2024, reflecting strong adoption for the treatment, with sales volume expanding by 750 percent.

ImmunityBio Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) is set to expand its sales operations for Anktiva into the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Macau, and Europe after receiving the go-signal from their regulators. Its entry into the said jurisdictions opens the doors for further revenue expansion.

To support the initiative, ImmunityBio Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) successfully raised $100 million in fresh funds, of which $75 million was drawn from a non-dilutive financing from Oberland Capital, while another $25 million was raised from a debt-to-share conversion by Nant Capital LLC, a company affiliated with ImmunityBio Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) Chairman Patrick Soon-Shiong.

“We are engaging with additional health authorities across the Asia-Pacific region and, in parallel, beginning to prepare for potential commercial distribution, recognizing there is still meaningful work ahead as we pursue further regulatory authorizations. Our focus is on executing this expansion in a disciplined manner, building on our existing approvals to support long-term global access for patients,” said ImmunityBio Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) President and CEO Richard Adcock.

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