A Handful of Stocks Are Driving Most of the Market’s Gains—Again
Posted on
November 14, 2025 By News Team
Much has been written about how concentrated the U.S. stock market has become. The 10 largest stocks now make up about 41% of the S&P 500, the highest share in decades. Those mega-caps have driven much of the index’s gains in recent years, and that pattern continues again this year.
But market concentration isn’t just about weight. Another way to look at it is through return contribution, or how much of the S&P 500’s performance comes from its 10 biggest contributors. Those stocks aren’t necessarily the 10 biggest by market cap; smaller names can punch above their weight when their prices move sharply.
This year illustrates that well. The 10 stocks with the largest contributions account for roughly 60% of the S&P 500’s gain (about 10.5 percentage points out of the index’s 17.6% total return). That group includes the usual giants like Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet, but also names further down the index, such as Palantir, AMD, and Micron Technology.
A roughly 60% share has been typical lately. In 2024, the top 10 contributors made up about 63% of the index’s return. In 2023, it was 67%. And in 2022, when the market fell 18%, the 10 biggest negative contributors accounted for 66% of the index’s losses.
The last meaningful deviation from that pattern was in 2021, when the top 10 made up 43% of the S&P 500’s 12.3% gain. From 2016 through 2019, the figure hovered closer to 30%.
The pandemic era turbocharged concentration. Nvidia has dominated contributions in the past two years. Apple and Microsoft traded off as the biggest drivers between 2019 and 2023. In 2018, Meta was the largest single detractor in the index.
The last time a non–“Magnificent 7” stock led the market’s gains was 2016, when JPMorgan topped the contribution rankings. Back then, Apple and Microsoft were the only tech names in the top tier; financials, energy, telecom, and health care companies made up much of the rest.
The data highlights how the market’s leadership has narrowed over time, and how returns have increasingly clustered in a handful of dominant stocks and sectors.
Much has been written about how concentrated the U.S. stock market has become. The 10 largest stocks now make up about 41% of the S&P 500, the highest share in decades. Those mega-caps have driven much of the index’s gains in recent years, and that pattern continues again this year.
But market concentration isn’t just about weight. Another way to look at it is through return contribution, or how much of the S&P 500’s performance comes from its 10 biggest contributors. Those stocks aren’t necessarily the 10 biggest by market cap; smaller names can punch above their weight when their prices move sharply.
This year illustrates that well. The 10 stocks with the largest contributions account for roughly 60% of the S&P 500’s gain (about 10.5 percentage points out of the index’s 17.6% total return). That group includes the usual giants like Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet, but also names further down the index, such as Palantir, AMD, and Micron Technology.
