This year's biggest winners in the US tech stocks: AppLovin ranks first, MSTR, Palantir, and Robinhood all surpassed Nvidia

In 2024, technology stocks continued to lead the U.S. stock market, with AI and cryptocurrency becoming the two main forces driving tech stocks. The top five performing tech companies all come from these two fields.

As of December 25, the tech-heavy Nasdaq has risen 39% year-to-date, outperforming the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones. Among them, AppLovin topped the tech stocks with an astonishing increase of 758%, while MicroStrategy, Palantir, and Robinhood also outperformed Nvidia. In terms of market capitalization growth, Nvidia saw the largest increase, adding $2.2 trillion to its market value.

AppLovin: From Mobile Gaming to AI Advertising Engine

AppLovin became the best-performing tech stock of 2024 with a 758% increase.

As AppLovin transformed from a mobile gaming service company to an AI-driven online advertising giant, its market value soared from $13 billion at the beginning of the year to over $110 billion, surpassing well-known companies like Starbucks, Intel, and Airbnb.

AppLovin's success is mainly attributed to its upgraded advertising search engine. Last year, the company released version 2.0 of its advertising search engine AXON, which helps deliver more precise ads on gaming applications.

Driven by this transformation, in the third quarter, AppLovin's software platform revenue grew 66% year-on-year to $835 million, with net profit increasing by 300% and profit margin rising from 12.6% to 36.3%.

MicroStrategy: The Big Winner Betting on Bitcoin

MicroStrategy continued its 346% surge from 2023, with its stock price rising another 467% this year, mainly due to the company's Bitcoin purchasing strategy.

Since mid-2020, MicroStrategy has been buying Bitcoin in large quantities and currently holds over 444,000 Bitcoins, valued at nearly $44 billion, making it the fourth-largest holder of Bitcoin globally, with its market value growing from $1.1 billion to $80 billion.

After Trump won the election in November, MicroStrategy's stock price rose by 57%, while Bitcoin increased by 44% during the same period. The company's founder, Michael Saylor, stated that with the establishment of a "digital asset framework," the entire digital asset industry will usher in a new round of growth.

Palantir: AI Demand Drives Performance Growth

Palantir's stock price has risen 380% this year, making it another big winner in the market. With the support of AI, its data analysis tools have gained widespread application in defense and commercial sectors.

In 2024, Palantir's stock price experienced several significant increases. Last month, Palantir announced third-quarter results that exceeded expectations the day before the presidential election, and simultaneously raised its revenue forecast for 2024, with its fourth-quarter performance guidance far exceeding analysts' expectationsCEO Alex Karp stated in the financial report: "We performed exceptionally well this quarter, thanks to the continuous demand for AI, and this demand will not slow down."

Palantir's stock price surged 23% after the financial report was released, and rose another 8.6% the day after Trump won the election. Palantir co-founder and board member Peter Thiel was a strong supporter of Trump during the 2016 campaign.

Robinhood: Cryptocurrency Trading Drives Growth

Despite Robinhood's stock price dropping 17% on October 31 due to poor financial results, its stock has still risen over 200% this year.

After Trump's victory, Robinhood's stock rose 20% within a few days. Cryptocurrency trading has become an important growth engine for Robinhood, allowing users to trade over 20 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, on the platform.

Robinhood's cryptocurrency-related revenue in the third quarter grew 165% year-over-year to $61 million. Analysts expect the company's revenue in the fourth quarter to grow more than 70% year-over-year, reaching $805.7 million, which would be the fastest growth rate since its IPO in 2021.

NVIDIA: Strong Demand for AI Chips Continues

After a 239% surge last year, NVIDIA's stock has risen another 183% this year, increasing its market capitalization by $2.2 trillion to $3.4 trillion, second only to Apple.

In terms of performance, NVIDIA remains the biggest beneficiary of the AI boom, with its annual revenue growth rate exceeding 94% for the past six quarters, three of which exceeded 200%.

CEO Jensen Huang stated that the next-generation AI chip Blackwell has entered the "full production" phase. CFO Colette Kress expects Blackwell's revenue in the fourth quarter to reach "billions of dollars."

However, for a company of NVIDIA's scale, a slowdown in growth is inevitable. Analysts expect NVIDIA's year-over-year growth rate to slow down in the coming quarters, dropping to around 45% by the second half of next year