Global Courant
Friday concludes an eventful first half of the year, and it was an unexpectedly strong one. The S&P 500 is up nearly 14% so far, putting it on track for its best first-half performance since 2021. At the time, the index was up 14.4% in the first six months of the year. Those gains come even as the Federal Reserve continued to raise rates, many investors feared the economy would slide into recession, and a crisis raised concerns about the health of the US banking system. That said, the excitement surrounding artificial intelligence boosted sentiment towards technology stocks, driving the broader market up. In fact, three of the best-performing S&P 500 stocks in the first half outperformed most of the others: Nvidia, Meta Platforms, and Tesla. All three stocks have at least doubled year-to-date, with Nvidia leading the way. The chipmaker is up more than 180% in 2023, while Meta and Tesla are up 137% and 107% respectively. Nvidia has quickly become an AI darling on Wall Street, with many analysts citing it as the best way to get to grips with the burgeoning chip trend. However, the stock was under pressure after a Tuesday night report in The Wall Street Journal said the US is considering restricting exports of some AI semiconductors to China. In a note Wednesday, Goldman Sachs’ Toshiya Hari noted, “We continue to expect consistent outperformance from NVDA over the medium to long term given the significant growth opportunities the company offers outside of China in cloud service providers, consumer internet companies, and other/general businesses. We maintain our Buy rating and would view any dislocation in the stock as an opportunity to add holdings.” NVDA YTD mount NVDA in 2023 Investors have also flocked to Tesla amid the AI craze, with some citing its potential to bolster the car company’s self-driving capabilities. Meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this month touted some “incredible breakthroughs” the company has already seen in its AI-related endeavors. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
