topperforming

The stock market trended higher in August. The popular S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.05%) index gained 1.9% last month. As of September 10, it has seen a total return of 20.6% in 52 weeks.

The top three performers among the 503 S&P 500 components took very different routes to the top. Let’s take a quick look.

1. UnitedHealth, up 24.2%

Health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group (UNH -0.31%) had three things working in its favor last month:

1. The stock dropped after reporting weak Q2 results near the end of July. It’s mathematically easier to post big gains after a dip like that.
2. The long-suffering acquisition of home healthcare specialist Amedisys finally closed. The $3.3 billion deal was proposed in the summer of 2023, following a process that included lawsuits and substantial concessions to secure the final approval.
3. Above all else, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -0.55%) (BRK.B -0.59%) disclosed owning 5 million UnitedHealth shares. It’s an entirely new position and investors celebrated Berkshire’s cash-powered seal of approval.

2. Intel, up 23%

Intel (INTC -2.09%) followed a similar stock-chart trajectory but for strange reasons. The Trump administration will buy $8.9 billion of Intel stock.

The U.S. government will hold a 9.9% ownership interest in Intel, with a warrants-based option to purchase another 5% of the stock under certain circumstances.

3. Newmont, up 19.8%

Gold miner Newmont (NEM -0.50%) rounds out this trio. Gold prices have been rising all year long, currently soaring near all-time highs. The average gold price rose 4.8% in August.

Newmont wasn’t alone in this surge. Fellow gold miners Coeur Mining (CDE 1.04%), Gold Fields (GFI -0.06%), and Iamgold (IAG 1.27%) outperformed Newmont in August, gaining 37.4% (Gold Fields) to 51.3% (Coeur).

Image source: Getty Images.

Shaky macroeconomics often result in rising gold prices, as investors flock to safer asset classes. That’s what’s going on in 2025, too.

However, Newmont is the only gold stock in the S&P 500, so its rivals don’t qualify for this particular list. Otherwise, all the names mentioned above would have ranked lower — including Newmont.

August 2025 was a big month for a handful of stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. While the index, which tracks 30 of the most influential publicly traded companies in the U.S., was up 3.8% on the month, there were some outliers that drove the component’s overall performance even higher.

Here are the five companies that led the way in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and why they led the charge.

UNH data by YCharts.

UnitedHealth Group: Up 30.3%

UnitedHealth Group (UNH 1.53%) stock has been a disappointment in 2025, down 50% heading into August. But it made a massive turnaround on a couple of key investments.

First, Berkshire Hathaway, led by famed CEO Warren Buffett, disclosed a $1.5 billion position in UnitedHealth, pocketing 5.04 million shares. It was a big move for Berkshire, which also operates an insurance company in GEICO, and signaled to investors that the beaten-down insurer was ripe for the picking.

Second, investor Michael Burry disclosed his own investment through his Scion Asset Management hedge fund. Burry, who’s best known for his bet against the housing market that was dramatized in The Big Short, disclosed that Scion bought 20,000 shares of UnitedHealth stock and another 350,000 call options.

The company’s second-quarter earnings were also solid, with revenue of $111.6 billion up $12.8 billion from a year ago. UnitedHealth issued full-year guidance for revenue between $344 billion and $345.5 billion, which would be up 15% from 2024.

Apple: Up 14.7%

Buffett’s cash to fund his UnitedHealth purchase came from his sale of Apple (AAPL -0.16%) stock. The Oracle of Omaha trimmed Berkshire’s stake by 20 million shares. But Apple had some other positive things going for it, so it still had a very good August.

First, Apple had a better-than-expected earnings report. Financials for its fiscal 2025’s third quarter (ended June 28) showed revenue of $94 billion, up 10% from a year ago. Earnings per share totaled $1.57, which was a 12% increase from last year.

Apple badly needed a quarter like that because the company’s revenue has been flat since 2023. While some investors were expecting more of the same, Apple was able to report double-digit growth in its iPhone, Mac, and Services segments.

American Express: Up 12.6%

American Express (AXP -1.30%) is a credit card company that has distinct advantages over competitors Mastercard and Visa. While it has a smaller market share, American Express caters to corporate accounts and affluent customers who crave the American Express gold or platinum card perks.

In addition, the company operates its own payment network and extends loans, giving it another income stream from the interest charged.

Although there remains some concern about the strength of the economy, American Express reported revenue that was up 9% in the second quarter to $17.8 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $4.08, up 17% from the second quarter of 2024.

American Express isn’t sitting on its laurels, though. CEO Steve Squeri indicated that the company is looking to upgrade its Platinum card in an effort to draw Generation Z and millennial customers.

Amazon: Up 6.6%

Amazon (AMZN -1.46%) has multiple growth engines with its lucrative Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing segment and its powerful e-commerce division. Both had good news to report in August, pushing Amazon shares higher.

First, the company’s second-quarter results showed strong performance from AWS, with revenue in the segment coming in at $30.87 billion and operating income of $10.16 billion. AWS is by far most profitable segment for Amazon, and its cloud computing division is essential for companies that are looking to operate artificial intelligence-infused programs without spending massive amounts of money to create their own data centers.

Image source: Getty Images.

Amazon also is seeing greater success with advertising. Its advertising-services segment brought in $15.69 billion in the second quarter, up 23% from the previous year.

Finally, the company’s Amazon Prime Day shopping event in July brought in billions. The company said it was the biggest Prime Day event in its history. While Amazon didn’t release sales figures yet, Adobe Analytics projected $23.8 billion in overall sales from the three-day event.

Home Depot: Up 8.8%

Home Depot (HD 1.69%) had a good August after reporting solid earnings of its own. As home sales are struggling in 2025, more people seem to be putting work into their existing properties, according to CEO Ted Decker, who cited “smaller home improvement projects” as driving the company’s successful quarter.

Home Depot said it saw sales of $45.3 billion in the second quarter, up 4.9% from a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share of $4.68 were $0.01 per share higher than a year ago. The home-improvement retailer reaffirmed its 2025 guidance for sales growth of 2.8%.

When all was said and done, last month ended up being a decent one for the broad market. The S&P 500 (^GSPC -1.44%) ended August 1.9% above where it started. For a couple of S&P 500 stocks, however, the month was far better.

Chemical company Albemarle (ALB -6.28%) was August’s biggest S&P 500 winner, up a little more than 25% after China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Company shut down operations at one of the world’s biggest lithium mines. Since Albemarle also owns and operates lithium mines, a diminished supply of the metal used to make electric vehicle batteries creates greater demand for Albemarle’s products.

That being said, the stock had the advantage of hitting the ground running early in the month. Albemarle’s second-quarter sales of $1.3 billion and non-GAAP (adjusted) per-share income of $0.11 reported at the very end of July were both better than expected, while the bottom line was considerably better than analysts’ estimates for a loss of around $0.84 per share.

Image source: Getty Images.

Shares of S&P 500 constituent and health insurer UnitedHealth Group (UNH 0.36%) rallied a little more than 24% last month, mostly in response to news that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had taken on a stake in the beaten-down stock.

Just keep the move in perspective. The stock’s still down 48% from April’s peak thanks to the 60% sell-off from that high to the multiyear low hit in early August following a disappointing first-quarter report and subsequent reductions for its full-year earnings outlook. The company’s now only looking for 2025 earnings of “at least $16.00” per share, well down from guidance of between $29.50 and $30.00 per share as of the end of last year. Unexpectedly high costs (particularly for its Medicare Advantage plans) are the chief culprit.

While both gains are impressive, in and of themselves, they aren’t reason enough to step in. You’ll still want to be sure these companies are actually worth owning before buying into either of them.