In 2025, US equities rebounded sharply after a steep sell-off in April and then set record highs. Gold past $4,000 for the first time in history; Nvidia climbed to a $5 trillion market cap; by year-end, AI had become a sector that capital appeared to be “abandoning.”
Take a look at the Top 10 Most-Watched US Stocks!
1. $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ Tops $5 Trillion, But Faces Threat From TPUs
On October 29, NVDA closed with a market capitalization of $5.02 trillion, becoming the first publicly listed company in history to surpass the $5 trillion milestone—just four months after it first broke above $4 trillion.
NVDA continues to benefit from the strength of its GPU ecosystem and software stack, with strong order visibility supporting the stock’s momentum.
However, throughout the year, markets have repeatedly focused on narratives around big tech developing in-house ASIC/TPU solutions and AI cost-optimization strategies.
2. $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ : FSD and Robots Keep The Upside Story Alive
In 2025, Tesla stayed caught between scaling volumes and competing on price.
At the start of the year, Tesla slid to as low as $214 amid tensions between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. By year-end, the stock has more than doubled and pushed to new highs. Major banks now believe 2026 could be a breakout year for Robotaxi.
The bull case clustered around two threads: iterative progress in FSD and subscription-like software leverage, plus the long-duration optionality of robotics and automation—each time the tech narrative strengthened, valuation snapped back quickly.
3. $Apple(AAPL)$: iPhone 17 Upgrade Cycle Revives
Apple’s 2025 was “steady”: hardware growth was constrained by the upgrade cycle and global consumer sensitivity, but cash flow durability and buybacks kept it positioned as a defensive mega-cap.
Attention shifted to on-device AI as a new variable—more compute, more storage, and privacy-centric experiences could re-ignite upgrade intent, while Services continued to provide margin resilience.
4. $Palantir Technologies Inc.(PLTR)$: Revenue Breakout, AI Monetization, And Policy Tailwinds
Palantir’s strong performance in 2025 aligns perfectly with this year’s inflection point—from AI spending to AI-driven revenue. Enterprises are no longer running AI pilots; they are now paying for measurable efficiency gains and operational transformation, leading to clear improvements in order momentum and renewal expectations.
At the same time, Palantir’s government business provides long-term contracts and counter-cyclical resilience, allowing the market to assign a higher “safety premium” even as risk appetite fluctuates.
In an environment where true application-layer winners remain scarce, high valuations and premium pricing continue to hold.
5. $Advanced Micro Devices(AMD)$: The “Second Compute Path” Gets Repriced
In 2025, markets increasingly accepted that AI compute won’t be single-vendor—customers pursued procurement diversification and cost optimization, lifting AMD’s relevance.
Data center CPU share gains, plus progress in AI accelerators, created a fuller growth setup; whenever supply tightness, customer ramp signals, or ecosystem openness improved, AMD’s upside beta expanded.
But challengers are hostage to cadence: software ecosystem maturity, product cycles, and customer validation must stay on track—rallies come from opportunity windows, volatility comes from delivery.
6. $Alibaba(BABA)$ : AI-Driven Valuation Rebound
Alibaba’s 2025 looked like “from trough back toward normal”: starting from depressed expectations, any stabilization and efficiency improvement drove valuation repair and a swift rebound.
Investors focused on two questions—can core commerce defend share and profitability amid intense competition, and can cloud/new initiatives show clearer profitability and cash-flow contribution. When the narrative shifts from “stress” to “manageable,” capital returns; but if consumer recovery stays uneven or competition heats up again, the rebound can quickly become a range-bound trade.
7. $Alphabet(GOOG)$: TPU Challenge To NVDA Fuels New Highs
Google’s release of its Gemini 3 large language model triggered a strong market reaction. The model was trained primarily on Google’s in-house TPU chips and has demonstrated performance approaching — and in some areas even surpassing — OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
This technological breakthrough prompted investors to reassess the competitive landscape of the AI chip market. Alphabet has changed the rules.
A new narrative around the “Google ecosystem” emerged, driving gains not only in Google’s stock but also across key upstream and downstream companies tied to its supply chain.
8. $Meta Platforms, Inc.(META)$: Advertising Recovers, But Margins Remain A Concern
In 2025, Meta’s core strengths remain cash flow generation and advertising efficiency. Continuous optimization of recommendation algorithms and ad delivery tools has improved advertiser ROI, providing fundamental support for the stock.
At the same time, investors are closely watching AI infrastructure and productization spending. Compute, models, and toolchains all require sustained heavy investment, and the market is increasingly focused on whether these costs can translate into higher ARPU, stronger user retention, and more stable long-term growth.
In its most recent earnings report, Meta posted a sharp rise in operating costs, with expenses growing faster than revenue. The stock sold off after earnings, and Meta has since replaced Google as the Magnificent Seven stock with the lowest forward P/E.
9. $Amazon.com(AMZN)$ : Entering AI Chip Race, AWS Poised For Re-Acceleration
In 2025, Amazon has emphasized efficiency and fulfillment capabilities in its core e-commerce business, which remains resilient. However, the market’s primary source of excitement lies in its cloud segment.
Amazon’s in-house AI chips can help reduce internal costs and improve efficiency, and over time, the company may follow Google’s path by offering its custom chips to external clients. As enterprise IT budgets gradually recover and AI-driven workloads expand, any clear inflection point in AWS growth could trigger a valuation re-rating.
Within the framework of “cloud as the cash-flow engine, AI as incremental upside,” Amazon’s stock volatility is largely driven by AWS’s growth trajectory. The story is there — but investors are waiting for stronger confirmation.
10. $Microsoft(MSFT)$: The Strongest AI Commercialization Gateway Still Awaiting Full Payoff
In 2025, Microsoft remains one of the companies with the clearest AI monetization pathways. Its productivity software, developer tools, and enterprise services provide natural entry points, while Azure supplies the underlying compute and delivery infrastructure, shortening the path to commercialization.
That said, Google currently appears to have built the tighter closed-loop system. Toward year-end, Microsoft’s shares declined as AI product sales fell short of expectations. As an early mover, the key question is whether Microsoft can reaccelerate and catch up in 2026.
Investors continue to focus on two core indicators: whether paid adoption of AI features is accelerating, and whether AI-related cloud workloads are meaningfully lifting revenue and margins.
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