In this article, we will look at Why These 7 “Blue Chip” Stocks Were Suddenly On Fire in April.
On May 8, Diane Swonk, KPMG chief economist, appeared on CNBC’s ‘The Exchange’ to talk about the economy, the Federal Reserve, and more. She was of the view that the underlying job market is still very weak, and that under the hood, the jobs report was still very weak on the household side of the survey. In addition, the U6, the underemployment numbers, jumped up to 8.2%, which is the highest level we have had since December.
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She is thus “not exactly thrilled” with the headline figures and does not believe they match the experiences of most people. Swonk further stated that this doesn’t mean that rate cuts by the Fed can do anything to cure what ails the labor market, and we do have a much stickier inflation situation that is likely to persist much longer in response to the war in Iran as well. She believes this is going to be a much harder situation for the Fed to deal with as we go into the summer months, which is something she is concerned about going forward.
With these broader market trends in view, let’s look at which 7 “blue chip” stocks were suddenly on fire in April.
Our Methodology
We tracked the performance of the top blue-chip stocks in April and shortlisted those with over 20% returns in the month. We then selected the top 7 stocks most popular among hedge funds as of Q4 2025, sourcing the hedge fund sentiment data from Insider Monkey’s database. The list is ordered in ascending order of the stocks’ returns in April.
Note: All data was recorded on May 8.
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).
Why These 7 “Blue Chip” Stocks Were Suddenly On Fire in April
7. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)
Returns in April: 21.88%
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is one of the top “blue chip” stocks that were suddenly on fire in April. On May 5, Argus lifted the price target on Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) to $990 from $820, reaffirming a Buy rating on the shares. The firm told investors in a research note that the company has recently seen success from solid data center growth, which is raising demand for its power generation products. This includes gas turbines, reciprocating engines, and solar microgrid systems. It added that Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) has also seen solid growth in its oil & gas business, along with its construction equipment used to build data centers. Argus anticipates the strong demand to continue in these growth areas in 2026 and the foreseeable future.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) also received a rating update from DA Davidson on May 4, with the firm lifting the price target on the stock to $845 from $650 and maintaining a Neutral rating on the shares. The rating update came after the company reported better-than-expected fiscal Q1 results, with the firm telling investors in a research note that most of the key numbers handily surpassed expectations. The management’s outlook was raised as the company is increasingly being driven by data center applications, now targeting 3x growth in its large engine capacity by 2028, up from 2x prior, according to the firm.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is involved in the business of industrial gas turbines, manufacturing construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, and diesel-electric locomotives. The company’s operations are divided into the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other.
6. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Returns in April: 25.88%
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is one of the top “blue chip” stocks that were suddenly on fire in April. Reuters reported on May 7 that, according to the French telecoms regulator, Amazon.com’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Prime Video is set to invest at least 90 million euros ($105.95 million) in European video and movie production in the French language this year. It added that ARCOM, the regulator, said in a statement that the investment requirement would increase to 110 million euros if the streaming service releases at least one film fewer than 12 months after it premiered in theatres. In 2021, the amount had been set at 40 million euros per year, and the amounts for the coming years would depend on Prime Video’s sales revenues.
In a separate development, Raymond James lifted the price target on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) to $280 from $225 on May 1 and maintained an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm told investors in a research note that although AWS delivered slightly softer-than-expected 28% growth, major AI partnerships and expanding agentic capabilities across models, tools, and compute considerably bolster its long-term position. This lifts RPO expectations and reinforces AWS as a key platform for enterprise and consumer AI commercialization.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) provides its customers with a range of products and services. It offers advanced tools for AR and VR developers through its Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform.
While we acknowledge the potential of AMZN to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AMZN and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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