15 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 6 Months

Published on August 16, 2023 at 6:35 am by Hamna Asim in Hedge Funds, News

In this article, we discuss 15 best performing stocks in the last 6 months. If you want to skip our detailed discussion on the stock market, head directly to 5 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 6 Months.

As per BlackRock’s findings, equity performance has surpassed predictions in the first half of 2023. In spite of challenges such as banking pressures, increasing risk of recession, and a monetary policy significantly stricter than anticipated at the beginning of the year, stock markets have consistently advanced. Most economic forecasters expected the emergence of a recession in the United States by this point. Despite a rise of 500 basis points in interest rates and certain signs of economic weaknesses, the recession has not yet occurred. BlackRock has outlined four possible economic outcomes – very hard landing, characterized by severe breaking of the economy; hard landing, characterized by negative economic growth before inflation falls to 2%; no landing, showing a lack of change in growth or inflation; and soft landing, which assumes stable growth despite inflation.

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Forbes reported that despite the Federal Reserve’s decision to increase interest rates again, the upward momentum of the bull market continued throughout July. The current stage of this economic cycle suggests a strong likelihood that the stock market might achieve a record high during August. The markets have experienced a boost from mid-year earnings that outperformed expectations, but the real sense of optimism stems from the recognition that the Federal Reserve has effectively managed to curb inflation without triggering a recession. It is not certain yet whether this perspective will hold through the possibility of an additional rate increase. The upcoming months will ascertain whether the Federal Reserve can successfully avoid a recession despite the increasing rates. Michael Landsberg, Chief Investment Officer at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management, warned investors of the possibility of another bout of inflation in August. He commented:

“August is a historically volatile month for the stock market, as many market participants are on vacation. August’s volatility could be extra elevated if we see hotter-than-expected inflation readings in August, given the rise in gasoline and commodity prices over the past few weeks.”

According to J.P. Morgan, there was notable variation in stock performance based on size, sectors, and styles in the first six months of 2023, occurring within an environment of significantly low levels of volatility. In the United States, unless the Federal Reserve takes proactive measures to ease conditions, experts anticipate a tougher economic environment for stocks during the second half of 2023. Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, Global Head of Equity Macro Strategy at J.P. Morgan stated:

“Given that multiple expansion has been the main driver of performance year to date, we see unattractive risk-reward for equities and increasing investor complacency ahead of our expectation that the business cycle will further decelerate in the second half of the year.”

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Investor’s Business Daily reported that the outlook for the stock market over the next half-year continues to be bullish following a steady yet uneven performance of stocks since January 2023. The past three months saw gains in the broader market. However, August has been rougher. As July ended, the S&P 500 recorded an increase of 3.1%, the NASDAQ Composite advanced by 4%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, comprising prominent blue-chip companies, saw a gain of nearly 3.4%. In August, so far the S&P 500 has experienced a decline of approximately 2%, the NASDAQ composite has dropped by 3.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has decreased by less than 0.7%. As the risk of further inflation remains, interest rates could continue to be a primary concern for investors. Despite recent positive data indicating a decrease in inflation, Wall Street still considers the likelihood that the United States Central Bank might implement a minimum 25-basis-point increase in short-term interest rates later in the year.

While market giants like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) continue to dominate mainstream headlines, we discuss 15 best performing stocks in the last 6 months in this article.

Our Methodology

We used a stock screener and filtered out stocks with market caps above $2 billion as of August 15. We did this to eliminate extremely small companies which have volatile performance and are not an appropriate indicator of the market performance overall. Then, we sorted the stocks in the ascending order of their 6-month share price performance. From the resulting dataset, we selected the stocks with the highest 6-month share price gains as of August 15. The following stocks are arranged in the ascending order of their share price gains.

Image by Sergei Tokmakov Terms.Law from Pixabay

Best Performing Stocks in the Last 6 Months

15. Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)

6-Month Share Price Gains as of August 15: 61.14%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 15

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) manages a cloud-based artificial intelligence lending system within the United States. This system brings together consumer loan requests and links them with its network of the corporation’s AI-enabled bank and credit union partners. On August 8, Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) announced a Q2 non-GAAP EPS of $0.06 and a revenue of $135.77 million, exceeding Wall Street estimates by $0.13 and $0.45 million, respectively.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 15 hedge funds were bullish on Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST), compared to 16 in the prior quarter. Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management is a prominent stakeholder of the company, with 1.6 million shares worth $26.4 million.

Like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) is one of the top stocks to watch for portfolio gains.

Here is what Vulcan Value Partners has to say about Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) in its Q2 2022 investor letter:

“Upstart Holdings Inc. was a material detractor for the quarter. It was a mistake, and we sold our position. Upstart is an artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based lending platform. The company uses AI models that are designed to underwrite superior loans with lower interest rates, lower default rates, higher approval rates, and increased underwriting automation. When we purchased Upstart, we believed the company had an excellent product and the addressable market was large.

Upstart’s results during 2021 were impressive. In the first quarter of 2022, the company reported solid results but lowered guidance and, more importantly, used its balance sheet to warehouse loans temporarily. The company’s decision to use its balance sheet to finance its growth surprised us and other market participants, and its stock price decreased dramatically. While we admire the management team, we are less confident in the company’s long-term prospects.

It will be more difficult than we anticipated for Upstart to extend its competitive advantages with smaller banks into adjacent markets such as auto loans and mortgages. As a result, our value for Upstart is unstable and the company no longer qualifies for investment. We are following our discipline and reallocating capital into companies with more stable values.”

14. Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA)

6-Month Share Price Gains as of August 15: 84.21%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 13

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA), one of the best performing stocks in the last 6 months, functions as a digital asset technology company specializing in the mining of digital assets within the United States. On August 8, Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) reported a Q2 GAAP EPS of -$0.13 and a revenue of $81.8 million, falling short of Wall Street estimates by $0.07 and $1.65 million, respectively.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 13 hedge funds were bullish on Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA), compared to 14 funds in the prior quarter.

Here is what Horizon Kinetics 1st/2nd Quarter Interim Commentary has to say about Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“Investors also tend to not give sufficient credit to the power of management to enhance or create additional value with such an asset. The commercialization of land requires considerable management expertise. This particular transaction involves two other parties that will build and operate up to 60 megawatts of bitcoin mining, which was stated could accommodate up to 2.0 Exahash of operational capacity. That is quite sizable. As a reference point, Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA), which has a $1.0 billion stock market value, even after a year-to-date decline of 70%, had about 3.6 EH/s of capacity at year-end 2021, though it expects to reach 13.3 EH/s during this calendar year. The TPL venture is expected to begin operations in the fourth quarter of this year.”

13. Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR)

6-Month Share Price Gains as of August 15: 106.11%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 21

Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) is a self-driving technology firm located in the United States. Its primary focus is on the Aurora Driver platform, which combines an array of self-driving components including hardware, software, and data services. Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) classifies as one of the best performing stocks in the last 6 months based on share price performance. On August 2, Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) reported a Q2 GAAP EPS of -$0.18, falling short of Wall Street estimates by $0.01.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, a total of 21 hedge funds were bullish on Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR), compared to 18 funds in the previous quarter.

12. Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)

6-Month Share Price Gains as of August 15: 115.00%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 41

Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) develops, produces, and maintains essential digital infrastructure technologies and services throughout their lifecycle. These technologies and services are intended for use in data centers, communication networks, as well as commercial and industrial settings across the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) is one of the best performing stocks in the last 6 months. On August 2, Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) reported a Q2 non-GAAP EPS of $0.46 and a revenue of $1.73 billion, outperforming Wall Street estimates by $0.17 and $110 million, respectively.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, a total of 41 hedge funds were bullish on Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT), compared to 40 in the preceding quarter. Jeffrey Smith’s Starboard Value LP held the largest position in the company, consisting of 16.8 million shares worth $240.7 million.

ClearBridge SMID Cap Growth Strategy made the following comment about Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) in its Q4 2022 investor letter:

“Another solid contributor was Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT), a leader in power and thermal management and related tools and systems used by data centers, enterprise and industrials customers and communication carriers globally. Vertiv continues to demonstrate a recovery from supply chain disruptions, win investor approval of its new CEO’s focus on operational improvements and generate greater free cash flow which will continue to make it a strong, long-term holding.”

11. Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT)

6-Month Share Price Gains as of August 15: 115.92%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 17

Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT) functions as a bitcoin mining company in North America. The company’s operations are divided into three segments – Bitcoin Mining, Data Center Hosting, and Engineering. It is one of the best performing stocks as of the last 6 months. On August 9, Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT) reported a Q2 GAAP EPS of -$0.17, outperforming Wall Street estimates by $0.03. Its revenue came in at $76.7 million, falling short of Wall Street estimates by $8.76 million.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 17 hedge funds were bullish on Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT), compared to 12 funds in the prior quarter. Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP is a significant stakeholder of the company, with 2 million shares worth $20.26 million.

10. AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP)

6-Month Share Price Gains as of August 15: 135.60%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 29

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) specializes in creating a software-oriented platform for mobile app developers. This platform enables developers to improve the marketing and revenue generation aspects of their applications, both within the United States and internationally. It is one of the best performing stocks as of the last 6 months. On August 9, AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) announced a Q2 GAAP EPS of $0.22 and a revenue of $750.17 million, exceeding Wall Street estimates by $0.15 and $25.87 million, respectively.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 29 hedge funds were bullish on AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP), in contrast to the previous quarter, when 31 hedge funds held the stock. Zachary Sternberg and Benjamin Stein’s Spruce House Investment Management held the largest position in the company, with 5 million shares worth $78.75 million.

Vulcan Value Partners made the following comment about AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:

“We fully exited AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP). AppLovin was a mistake that we were still trading and therefore did not discuss in our second quarter letter. AppLovin owns a portfolio of over 300 mobile games and operates an advertising platform for third party gaming apps. Our investment case hinged on the company’s advertising platform data from the owned games business which we believed was its key competitive advantage. Through our recent research, we concluded that management is likely planning to restructure or sell all or some of the owned games business. In addition, while we thought AppLovin’s second quarter results were good, with revenue up 16%, the company lowered guidance on its long-term organic growth opportunity. To achieve their long-term plans, the company is relying on new initiatives which we would categorize as early stage. As our understanding of a company’s competitive advantage changes, we reevaluate the business to determine how this affects our investment thesis. For AppLovin, we determined that the company’s competitive advantage was not as strong as we once thought, and we followed our discipline by selling AppLovin and redeploying capital into companies that we believe have more stable values and attractive margins of safety.”

9. Dream Finders Homes, Inc. (NYSE:DFH)

6-Month Share Price Gains as of August 15: 136.54%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 7

Next on the list of the best performing stocks is Dream Finders Homes, Inc. (NYSE:DFH). It serves as a holding company for Dream Finders Holdings LLC, which is actively involved in the homebuilding business within the United States. Additionally, insurance agency services such as closing, escrow, title insurance, and mortgage banking solutions are also provided by the company. On August 3, Dream Finders Homes, Inc. (NYSE:DFH) reported a Q2 GAAP EPS of $0.65 and a revenue of $945.34 million, exceeding Wall Street estimates by $0.33 and $278.68 million, respectively.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 7 hedge funds were bullish on Dream Finders Homes, Inc. (NYSE:DFH), same as the prior quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group held the largest stake in the company, with 124,884 shares valued at $1.65 million.

Here is what Argosy Investors specifically said about Dream Finders Homes, Inc. (NASDAQ:DFH):

“Dream Finders Homes, Inc. (NASDAQ:DFH) is a major addition to this infamous list of poor performers. Clearly interest rates have risen and with some people concerned about recession, home builders have fallen significantly, and DFH is no exception. It now trades for ~5.5x 2022 earnings and 6x 2023 earnings. While I do not know how severe the future could be, I believe DFH will be cash-generative during even poor economic times and that in general, the homebuilding industry is healthier financially than in the 2005-2007 period. The only reason I believe this business isn’t valued more highly is that the management team owns nearly 75% of shares and the business is still relatively new to investors and they have not seen how the business performs through a crisis. To be fair, I have not either, but management is very adamant about their land-light strategy providing advantages similar to those that NVR enjoys. I believe them, and I will continue to hold and may purchase more shares in the future.”

8. Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ:SYM)

6-Month Share Price Gains as of August 15: 142.41%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 5

Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ:SYM) is one of the best performing stocks in the last 6 months. It is an automation technology company that delivers robotics and technological solutions to enhance efficiency for retailers and wholesalers across the United States. The company provides the Symbotic system, a comprehensive warehouse automation solution for product distribution. On July 31, Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ:SYM) announced financial results for its third fiscal quarter ended June 24, 2023. The company reported a GAAP EPS of -$0.07, in-line with the Wall Street estimates, and a revenue of $311.84 million, outperforming market consensus by $50.82 million.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 5 hedge funds were bullish on Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ:SYM), compared to 6 funds in the previous quarter.

7. BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBIO)

6-Month Share Price Gains as of August 15: 153.69%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 44

BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBIO) is involved in the exploration, advancement, and distribution of a variety of treatments for genetic disorders. On August 3, BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBIO) declared a Q2 GAAP EPS of -$0.98 and a revenue of $1.6 million, falling short of Wall Street estimates by $0.15 and $1.35 million, respectively. However, based on 6-month share price gains, it is one of the best performing stocks.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 44 hedge funds were bullish on BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBIO). This number increased from the previous quarter when 28 funds were invested in BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBIO). Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global held the largest stake in the company, with 26.62 million shares valued at $441.4 million.

Baron Opportunity Fund mentioned BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBIO) in its Q2 2021 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:

“BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing drugs that address a host of genetic disorders. Shares fell in the quarter given concerns around increasing competition. While we expect positive results from BridgeBio’s Phase 3 trial for its lead program for TTR amyloidosis, a disease in which toxic proteins build up in the heart and nerves, encouraging updates from Alnylam’s competing drug, Vitrusiran, and more recently, Intellia’s gene editing platform, pressured the stock. We exited our position.”

6. IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

6-Month Share Price Gains as of August 15: 164.42%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 19

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) is one of the best performing stocks in the last 6 months. The company is engaged in creating universal quantum computing systems in the United States. The company provides this access through cloud-based platforms like Amazon Braket, Microsoft’s Azure Quantum, and Google’s Cloud Marketplace, as well as its own cloud service. On August 10, IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) announced a Q2 non-GAAP EPS of -$0.22, falling short of Wall Street estimates by $0.14. Revenue for the quarter stood at $5.52 million, exceeding market forecasts by $1.16 million.

According to Insider Monkey’s first quarter database, 19 hedge funds were bullish on IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ), compared to 23 funds in the preceding quarter.

In addition to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) is one of the top stocks for a diversified portfolio.

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