Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia Corp., holds up the company's AI accelerator chips for data centers as he speaks during the Nvidia AI Summit Japan in Tokyo on Nov. 13, 2024.
Artificial intelligence is still an abstract concept for many everyday consumers unsure about how it will change their lives. But there's no question about whether businesses are finding value in it.
Some of the biggest winners in this year's stock market rally that's seen the Nasdaq jump 33% and other U.S. indexes notch double-digit gains have direct ties to the rapid advancements in AI. Chipmaker Nvidia is among them, but it's not alone.
The other standout theme that's driven this year's outperformers is crypto. Starting with the launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in January, cryptocurrencies had a big 2024, punctuated by Donald Trump's election victory, which was funded heavily by the crypto industry. A number of stocks tied to crypto got a big boost.
With four trading days left in the year, here are the five best-performing U.S. tech stocks of 2024 among companies valued at $5 billion or more.