The Nasdaq-100's 6 Best Stocks This Year, and Whether They Can Keep Going

Experienced investors know all too well that past performance is no guarantee of future results. Still, those same investors also know that sometimes one year's biggest winners can keep on trucking the following year.

Take artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouse Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) as an example. After soaring more than 180% in 2024, shares of the technology giant gained another 35% in 2025, and are up more than 18% so far this year. Palantir Technologies is another big name with recent back-to-back yearly wins, rallying 367% in 2024 then logging a 122% gain the following year.

Of course, these gains were driven by their underlying companies being in the right place at the right time. That's in the artificial intelligence business just as it was reaching critical mass. Plenty of red-hot tickers don't follow through.

Take Novo Nordisk as an example. Its stock was all the rage in 2023 when the company's weight-loss drug Wegovy was gaining serious traction, driving the stock more than 50% higher that year. Although it started the next year with that same bullish momentum, after peaking in mid-2024, it ended up suffering a full-year setback of more than 16% that same year, and is still losing ground.

Image source: Getty Images.

The point is, momentum alone isn't a reason to own a particular stock. There's always more to the story.

With that as the backdrop, while there's obviously no assurance that they'll do as well in 2027, here's a rundown of the best-performing stocks of the Nasdaq-100 index through Oct. 14 of this year. This index-leading bullishness is at least worth exploring.

1. Moderna

This year's best-performing Nasdaq-100 constituent is surprising in that the company isn't an AI-focused company, but rather a pharmaceutical name. The surprise is pared back, however, when you learn the stock is drugmaker Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA). Shares are up 667% since the end of 2025, with the largest single piece of this gain materializing in mid-August in response to encouraging results from the phase 3 clinical trial of its intismeran autogene as a treatment for certain types of melanoma. That said, the FDA's approval of a flu vaccine as well as the stock's recent addition to the Nasdaq-100 index are also contributing to bullish sentiment.

Just be careful if you're counting on a repeat. Regardless of its opportunity or the R&D progress this drugmaker is making, any 667% gain achieved in less than a year is a tough act to follow, even if intismeran autogene is approved as a melanoma treatment. The stock's priced as if that approval is a foregone conclusion.

2. Sandisk

While Moderna may be a surprising addition to this list of 2026's top-performing Nasdaq stocks, Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) isn't. This ticker is up more than 490% year-to-date, reflecting insatiable AI-driven demand for computer memory that has pushed DRAM prices roughly 50% higher (according to PC Part Picker), and about 400% higher since early 2024 (according to JPMorgan). Yet, the industry is still selling every memory chip it can make.

So why have Sandisk shares not only not budged since mid-year, but pulled back from July's peak?

It's not because the shortage has been shored up, if that's what you're thinking. JPMorgan expects DRAM prices to continue inching higher all the way through 2029, even if most of the shock price increase is in the rearview mirror. And rival memory maker Micron Technology's (NASDAQ: MU) CEO Sanjay Mehrotra agrees, expecting the shortage to persist at least through 2028. Indeed, Mehrotra recently reminded investors that 75% of Micron's output through the end of next year is already spoken for, none of which is earmarked for consumers.

Rather, this stock's recent weakness suggests that all of this future demand and pricing power is already reflected in the stock's price. It too could struggle to tack on more gains in the immediate future.

Or, maybe not. Keep reading.

3. Micron Technology

It will come as no surprise to anyone that shares of Sandisk rival Micron Technology are also much higher this year. Following last year's gain of over 250%, this ticker's up another 220% since the end of 2025.

Just understand that it too seems to have stagnated and even slumped since the middle of this year for the very same reason. Investors may be afraid this company's past, present, and potential future growth is already priced in. Even if Micron is able to continue growing its top and bottom lines as expected this year and into 2027 -- from last year's revenue of $133 billion to $275 billion this year to $318 billion next year -- the ticker's total net upside from here may still be limited.

Except, perhaps it isn't. Despite this stock's heroic rally since the middle of 2025, analysts still support a consensus 12-month price target of $1,612 that's more than 90% above Micron's current price. The same analyst community also says Sandisk shares are worth $2,276 apiece, up more than 60% from where this stock is priced right now. The recent lull may only reflect investors' headline-prompted hesitation.

4. Marvell Technology

Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) may be the least familiar name on this list of the Nasdaq-100's top-performing tickers so far this year. It's most definitely earned its spot. Shares are up an impressive 188% since the end of 2025.

Marvell has found its place within the data center space by offering custom-built processors. While Nvidia-made hardware is still clearly carrying most of the AI industry's computing load, as time marches on and the business's engineers figure out what works best for their particular needs, they're finding more specialized hardware like that made by Marvell Technology can make more cost-effective sense.

Its numbers say as much too. Revenue through the first half of the year is up 32%, resulting in comparable earnings growth.

Perhaps more important, Marvell's ability to offer custom-built processing tech is a competitive edge that will only matter more in the foreseeable future, even if AI-driven demand for more mainstream, conventional hardware loses steam. Analysts' projected 2026 top-line growth of 47% and 63% growth next fiscal year are actually predictions that data center owners and operators won't necessarily spend less going forward, but will be more thoughtful about getting the most computing bang for their buck from their capital expenditures.

5. Advanced Micro Devices

One of the names conspicuously missing from early discussions about AI was Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD). As a smaller GPU (graphical processing unit) name than Nvidia as well as a smaller CPU (central processing unit) name than Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), it just wasn't in a position to pry its way into the artificial intelligence business. That's why its stock underperformed following the late-2022 launch of ChatGPT that set off a frenzied AI race.

The company and its stock appear to have made up for lost time, though. Shares are up 188% year-to-date (matching Marvell stock's performance), reversing 2025's weakness.

Credit AMD's full foray into the artificial intelligence space, mostly. Its revenue growth of 44% through the first half of 2026 was led by data center growth of 81%, which accelerated to 107% in Q2 of this year alone. Data centers now make up more than half of the company's top line.

Like most other AI technology stocks, this one hasn't exactly thrived in the past few months. Just don't read too much into this tepidness. As Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold explained in his August upgrade, "AMD offers the strongest combination of direct earnings leverage, datacenter positioning and market-share gains."

6. Intel

Last but not least, add the aforementioned Intel to your list of 2026's red-hot Nasdaq-100 names. It's up 166% year-to-date.

Granted, it had a lot of help. Not only did this ticker lag the rest of the technology industry's major names since 2022, it actually lost ground during this stretch, unable to gain traction with its CPU specialization in an AI industry built on and around GPUs like those made by Nvidia.

Intel's finally figured out how to penetrate the AI market, however, with its CPU know-how-turned-GPU tech. While it's still only well-suited for a small handful of narrowly focused uses, Intel's Q2 data center and AI revenue soared 59% year over year to $6.3 billion, making AI nearly 40% of the company's second-quarter revenue, accelerating a trend that only began in earnest in Q1. The best is yet to come.

Or, maybe not. Although Intel has arguably come the farthest on the artificial intelligence front in the least amount of time, it's also the least-proven name on this front, leaving its stock the most vulnerable to any headwinds the AI industry may run into from here.

JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. James Brumley has positions in Raymond James Financial. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, JPMorgan Chase, Marvell Technology, Micron Technology, Moderna, Novo Nordisk, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends Nasdaq. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.