The Stocks Driving S&P 500 Returns in 2024

Published

14 seconds ago

on

June 28, 2024 Article/Editing: Graphics/Design:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

The Stocks Driving S&P 500 Returns in 2024

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

The S&P 500 is sitting at near-record highs, returning 15% year-to-date as of June 26, 2024.

Today, a limited number of stocks are powering the stock market’s rally as investors pour money into companies that are advancing AI technologies. As share prices skyrocket, many wonder if company valuations are overheated—or if they are supported by strong corporate fundamentals.

This graphic shows the top 10 S&P 500 stocks driving stock market returns in 2024, based on data from Goldman Sachs.

Big Tech Stocks Are Fueling Gains

Below, we show the companies making the largest contribution to the S&P 500’s rally:

RankCompanyTickerContribution to S&P 500 Return
YTD as of June 13, 2024 1NvidiaNVDA4.94% 2MicrosoftMSFT1.24% 3AlphabetGOOGL0.97% 4MetaMETA0.84% 5AppleAAPL0.81% 6AmazonAMZN0.72% 7BroadcomAVGO0.62% 8Eli Lilly & Co.LLY0.60% 9Berkshire HathawayBRK.B0.22% 10QUALCOMMQCOM0.21% Total S&P 500 Return YTD 202414.65%

As of June 13, 2024.

Chipmaker Nvidia has driven over a third of S&P 500 returns this year, with its share price soaring 162% year-to-date as of June 13, 2024.

In June, Nvidia became the world’s most valuable firm, commanding an estimated 70% to 95% of the AI chip market. In the latest quarter, revenue surged by threefold compared to a year earlier amid high chip demand. Overall, big tech companies such as Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft made up roughly 45% of its data-center revenue, with Meta running a staggering 350,000 H100 chips to power its AI systems this year alone.

Falling in second is Microsoft, which has invested billions in AI startups including OpenAI and Wayve, a self-driving car firm. Microsoft is a cloud service provider for ChatGPT, the large language model built by OpenAI. As AI demand exceeds capacity, and other business segments see solid growth, Microsoft’s revenue increased 17% year-over-year as of the second quarter of 2024.

Google’s parent, Alphabet, ranks next, followed by Meta and

What is the Median Pay of Magnificent Seven Companies?

Published

1 hour ago

on

June 12, 2024 Article/Editing: Graphics/Design:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

What is the Median Pay of Magnificent Seven Companies?

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

The Magnificent Seven are lifting the stock market to new highs, led by Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, and Alphabet in particular.

In May alone, these tech giants added $1.4 trillion in market capitalization to the S&P 500—surpassing the combined gains of 296 other stocks during the same period. Notably, Nvidia contributed to more than half of this rise. As tech stocks boom, many are offering robust salaries with substantial stock option plans.

This graphic shows the median pay of the Magnificent Seven companies in 2023, based on analysis from The Wall Street Journal and MyLogIQ.

The Highest Paying Companies in the Magnificent Seven

Below, we show the median employee pay of the Magnificent Seven companies in 2023:

CompanyMedian Employee Pay
2023CEO Total Pay
2023 Meta$379,050$24.4M Alphabet$315,531$8.8M Nvidia$266,939$34.2M Microsoft$193,770$48.5M Apple$94,118$63.2M Tesla$45,811$0M Amazon$36,274$1.4M

Data for Microsoft is from SEC filings. Total CEO pay includes equity awards and cash pay.

Meta ranks as the highest overall, with a median pay of $379,050, which is more than six times the national median salary.

Not only is it the leading company in the Magnificent Seven, it has one of the highest median pay across S&P 500 companies. Between 2022 and 2023, employee pay increased 28%, following four rounds of layoffs that slashed thousands of employees in its “year of efficiency”.

Following Meta is Google’s parent company, Alphabet, with a median pay of $315,531. The company operates a hybrid work policy, requiring employees to be in the office about three days a week. This mirrors a trend seen across Amazon and Salesforce to encourage in-person collaboration.

At Nvidia, employees received a median pay of $266,939, fueled by its soaring share price. Last year, over $300 million in value was delivered to its staff under its employee stock purchase plan. Along with a competitive pay package, the company offers an unlimited vacation policy along with 22-weeks