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The Standard & Poor's 500 Index is the focus benchmark for big, and small, investors.
Its components include the biggest companies ranked by market capitalization. Their activities sprawl across the U.S. economy and the world, all organized into 11 sectors with a host of subsectors.
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The index climbed 23.3% in 2024 on a price-only basis, slightly below its 24.2% gain in 2023.
The benchmark hasn't posted two years in a row of 20%-plus gains since 1997 and 1998.
And when a big-data company produces the biggest return among the 500 companies in the index, people notice. Because big data (and what one does with it) is dominating the thinking of most companies, executives, governments and society.
Here are the five top S&P 500 performers in 2024.
Palantir: Data drive the present and future (Up 340%)
The S&P 500's winner in 2024, Palantir (PLTR) , with a 340.48% gain, is right in the middle of this thinking. Its business is to gather mountains of data on just about everything and tell its clients what the data means and what it says about the future.
Related: Analyst says big shift in AI coming in 2025 is huge tailwind for two stocks
Artificial intelligence is a key profit driver. The Defense Department is among the Denver company's biggest clients. It is widely admired on Wall Street and was added to the S&P 500 on Sept. 23 and the Nasdaq-100 Index on Dec. 23.
Palantir shares soared after its third-quarter results handily beat expectations. "We absolutely eviscerated this quarter," Chief Executive Alex Karp said on the earnings call.
Vistra: Power to the (nationwide) community (Up 258%)
Vistra (VST) is the S&P 500's second-biggest gainer in 2024. The Dallas company provides power and electricity to communities from Maine to California.
It was formed out the bankruptcy of Texas Utilities in 2016 and markets power using natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar and battery sources.
More stocks’ performance in 2024
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The 5 best performing stocks on the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2024
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The 5 worst performing stocks on the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2024
It takes tremendous power to train and operate artificial intelligence, and part of its surge has come from the massive demand for power by data centers engaged in its development.