Tech stocks have been one of the hottest areas of the stock market. Investors are closely watching the industry because of its impressive track record of returns and future potential. So, it’s worth keeping an eye on tech stocks and keeping an eye on the top performers.
While a list of top-performing companies won’t tell you which stocks will perform well in the future, many of the top-performing tech companies have continued to deliver strong returns over the years. For example, Amazon has risen sharply year after year, so it might be useful to track the best tech stocks to see which ones will continue their high growth trajectory.
Here are the best-performing tech stocks so far this year, including only those in the Tech Select Sector SPDR Fund ETF (XLK). While the first half of 2022 has been challenging — especially for growth stocks — there are still many stocks that have delivered solid gains in an otherwise bearish year.
Best tech stocks as of June 2022
| Company and ticker symbol | Performance year to date (percent) |
|---|---|
| Jack Henry (JKHY) | 12.7% |
| Fleetcor Technologies (FLT) | 11.2% |
| DXC Technology (DXC) | 9.4% |
| Citrix Systems (CTXS) | 6.4% |
| IBM (IBM) | 3.9% |
| HP (HPQ) | 3.1% |
| Enphase Energy (ENPH) | 1.8% |
| Mastercard (MA) | -0.4% |
| Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) | -1.1% |
| Visa (V) | -2.1% |
Data as of May 31, 2022
It may also be worth keeping an eye on some technological laggards. Why? Sometimes the reason a stock underperforms is because it soared in the previous year. So investors need time to digest the good news, and the target company needs time to catch up with the stock price. As a result, stocks that underperformed this year could be the most popular again next year.
Here are the worst-performing tech stocks in the same fund.
The worst performing tech stocks in June 2022
| Company and ticker symbol | Performance year to date (percent) |
|---|---|
| PayPal (PYPL) | -54.8% |
| EPAM Systems (EPAM) | -49.4% |
| Ceridian HCM (CDAY) | -46.1% |
| Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) | -43.2% |
| IPG Photonics (IPGP) | -38.7% |
Data as of May 31, 2022
Broad tech stocks
Here’s how some of the most frequently held tech stocks are doing.
| Company and ticker symbol | Performance year to date (percent) |
|---|---|
| Apple (AAPL) | -16.2% |
| Microsoft (MSFT) | -19.2% |
| Alphabet (GOOGL) | -21.5% |
| Amazon (AMZN) | -27.9% |
| Tesla (TSLA) | -28.2% |
Data as of May 31, 2022
Should you invest in the hottest tech stocks?
Investing in individual stocks can be difficult. You need to understand the business and industry and understand where the journey is going. For tech stocks, that means there can be a lot of complexity to study and understand. Those with the time and willingness to put in the effort may be able to reap some of these great rewards.
Is everyone else unlucky? Not in fact, any investor can participate in the booming tech industry, even with little knowledge. This is because investors can choose to buy index funds based on any market sector. These funds track a specific collection of stocks and, instead of trying to outperform the market, take a weighted average of their holdings.
So, if you’re looking for tech stocks, consider mutual funds or exchange-traded funds that focus solely on the tech sector. You have a variety of funds to choose from, from pure technology funds to funds that are heavily allocated to technology, such as
But the key to anything you invest in: If you don’t own your stocks or funds, you won’t get the returns they can provide. This is one of the reasons why passive investing often outperforms active trading.
Bottom line
Tracking the hottest tech stocks is a great way to see what the market likes, but if you want to go out and invest in some of these stocks, it’s important to research the business and understand what you’re actually buying. And you’re not obligated to buy anything you don’t like. As legendary investor Warren Buffett once said: “The stock market is a game without a strike. You don’t have to attack everything—you can wait for your pitch.”
