We recently published a list of Why These 15 Communication Services Stocks Are up the Most So Far in 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where IHS Holding Ltd (NYSE:IHS) stands against other communication services stocks that are up the most so far in 2025.
The communication services sector has been one of Wall Street’s most dynamic performers so far this year. The sector has a lot of breadth and encompasses everything from traditional telecom giants to digital advertising platforms and streaming entertainment providers, so the sector hardly moves in tandem.
What makes this sector particularly intriguing is how different subsegments are thriving for entirely different reasons. Tech-oriented communication stocks have capitalized on AI, whereas telecom stalwarts have found strength through 5G network expansion, which is finally becoming the dominant communication standard this year.
Understanding these market leaders provides both defensive positioning opportunities and exposure to some of the most innovative companies.
Even during bear markets, there are pockets of the market that perform exceptionally well. For example, I identified 15 Energy Stocks that are Up the Most in 2025 in another article.
Methodology
For this article, I screened the best-performing communication services stocks year-to-date.
I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
20 Largest Telecom Companies in The World by Revenue
IHS Holding Ltd (NYSE:IHS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 17
IHS Holding Ltd (NYSE:IHS) is one of the world’s largest independent owners and operators of shared communications infrastructure, primarily focused on emerging markets across Africa and Latin America.
The stock’s sharp rise in 2025 is mainly due to a significant earnings beat in the fourth quarter of 2024, where IHS reported earnings per share of $0.73, far exceeding the forecast of $0.01, and revenue of $437.8 million, also above expectations.
IHS sold its 70% stake in its Kuwait business for $230 million, and the earlier sale of its Peru operations, both part of a broader strategic review aimed at raising $500 million to $1 billion through asset disposals. These moves improved the company’s balance sheet.
IHS stock is up 65.41% year-to-date.
Overall, IHS ranks 6th on our list of communication services stocks that are up the most so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of IHS, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than IHS but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
