Year in review: Best-performing tech stocks of 2020
Tech stocks in 2020 saw significant overall gains despite it being a volatile year of record-breaking lows and highs. The year started and ended bullish, with long stretches of immense uncertainty.
Massive sell-offs beginning in February amid the coronavirus outbreak caused a stock market crash on March 9, representing the biggest point plunge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) history. By the end of the year, however, the market saw record highs. These historic ups and downs of 2020 made for a volatile market, but proved out again the value in investors being more mindful of long-term performance rather than hourly (or monthly) changes.
Stacker compiled a list of the best performing tech stocks of 2020 using data from IEX Cloud. Information technology and communication services stocks in the S&P 500 were considered. Stocks are ranked by total return.
Overall, in a year that put the vast majority of the world into lockdown mode, businesses with tech elements saw stocks do extremely well—from gaming and social media to video software and e-commerce. The stocks represented here don’t necessarily represent the best stocks to invest in currently, just as not all investments work for all portfolios. Keep reading to see which tech stocks performed best in 2020.
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#50. Broadridge Financial Solutions
- Total return: 25.8%
- Price return: 24.0%
- Dividend return: 1.8%
- Ticker: BR
#49. F5 Networks
- Total return: 26.0%
- Price return: 26.0%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: FFIV
#48. Analog Devices Inc.
- Total return: 26.4%
- Price return: 24.3%
- Dividend return: 2.1%
- Ticker: ADI
#47. Corning Inc.
- Total return: 26.7%
- Price return: 23.7%
- Dividend return: 3.0%
- Ticker: GLW
#46. Skyworks Solutions
- Total return: 28.0%
- Price return: 26.5%
- Dividend return: 1.6%
- Ticker: SWKS
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#45. TE Connectivity Ltd.
- Total return: 28.3%
- Price return: 26.3%
- Dividend return: 2.0%
- Ticker: TEL
#44. News Corp. Class A
- Total return: 28.5%
- Price return: 27.1%
- Dividend return: 1.4%
- Ticker: NWSA
#43. Keysight Technologies
- Total return: 28.7%
- Price return: 28.7%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: KEYS
#42. NortonLifeLock
- Total return: -16.6%
- Price return: -18.6%
- Dividend return: 2.0%
- Ticker: NLOK
#41. Texas Instruments
- Total return: 30.8%
- Price return: 27.9%
- Dividend return: 2.9%
- Ticker: TXN
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#40. Alphabet Inc. (Class A)
- Total return: 30.9%
- Price return: 30.9%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: GOOGL
#39. Facebook Inc.
- Total return: 33.1%
- Price return: 33.1%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: FB
#38. Microchip Technology
- Total return: 33.3%
- Price return: 31.9%
- Dividend return: 1.4%
- Ticker: MCHP
#37. Cognizant Technology Solutions
- Total return: 33.6%
- Price return: 32.1%
- Dividend return: 1.4%
- Ticker: CTSH
#36. Electronic Arts
- Total return: 33.7%
- Price return: 33.6%
- Dividend return: 0.2%
- Ticker: EA
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#35. Charter Communications
- Total return: 36.4%
- Price return: 36.4%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: CHTR
#34. Salesforce.com
- Total return: 36.8%
- Price return: 36.8%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: CRM
#33. Fortinet
- Total return: 39.1%
- Price return: 39.1%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: FTNT
#32. Micron Technology
- Total return: 39.8%
- Price return: 39.8%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: MU
#31. ANSYS
- Total return: 41.3%
- Price return: 41.3%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: ANSS
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#30. Microsoft Corp.
- Total return: 42.4%
- Price return: 41.0%
- Dividend return: 1.3%
- Ticker: MSFT
#29. Broadcom Inc.
- Total return: 42.8%
- Price return: 38.6%
- Dividend return: 4.2%
- Ticker: AVGO
#28. Applied Materials Inc.
- Total return: 42.8%
- Price return: 41.4%
- Dividend return: 1.4%
- Ticker: AMAT
#27. Arista Networks
- Total return: 42.9%
- Price return: 42.9%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: ANET
#26. Qorvo
- Total return: 43.1%
- Price return: 43.1%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: QRVO
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#25. Tyler Technologies
- Total return: 45.5%
- Price return: 45.5%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: TYL
#24. Intuit Inc.
- Total return: 45.9%
- Price return: 45.0%
- Dividend return: 0.8%
- Ticker: INTU
#23. Maxim Integrated Products Inc
- Total return: 46.5%
- Price return: 44.1%
- Dividend return: 2.3%
- Ticker: MXIM
#22. Xilinx
- Total return: 46.5%
- Price return: 45.0%
- Dividend return: 1.5%
- Ticker: XLNX
#21. KLA Corporation
- Total return: 47.3%
- Price return: 45.3%
- Dividend return: 2.0%
- Ticker: KLAC
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#20. Zebra Technologies
- Total return: 50.5%
- Price return: 50.5%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: ZBRA
#19. Adobe Inc.
- Total return: 51.6%
- Price return: 51.6%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: ADBE
#18. IPG Photonics Corp.
- Total return: 54.4%
- Price return: 54.4%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: IPGP
#17. Activision Blizzard
- Total return: 57.0%
- Price return: 56.3%
- Dividend return: 0.7%
- Ticker: ATVI
#16. Lam Research
- Total return: 63.2%
- Price return: 61.5%
- Dividend return: 1.7%
- Ticker: LRCX
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#15. Autodesk Inc.
- Total return: 66.4%
- Price return: 66.4%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: ADSK
#14. Netflix Inc.
- Total return: 67.1%
- Price return: 67.1%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: NFLX
#13. Twitter Inc.
- Total return: 69.0%
- Price return: 69.0%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: TWTR
#12. Take-Two Interactive
- Total return: 69.7%
- Price return: 69.7%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: TTWO
#11. Paycom
- Total return: 70.8%
- Price return: 70.8%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: PAYC
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#10. T-Mobile US
- Total return: 74.2%
- Price return: 74.2%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: TMUS
#9. QUALCOMM Inc.
- Total return: 75.6%
- Price return: 72.7%
- Dividend return: 2.9%
- Ticker: QCOM
#8. Teradyne
- Total return: 76.4%
- Price return: 75.8%
- Dividend return: 0.6%
- Ticker: TER
#7. Apple Inc.
- Total return: 81.8%
- Price return: 80.7%
- Dividend return: 1.1%
- Ticker: AAPL
#6. Synopsys Inc.
- Total return: 86.2%
- Price return: 86.2%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: SNPS
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#5. ServiceNow
- Total return: 95.0%
- Price return: 95.0%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: NOW
#4. Cadence Design Systems
- Total return: 96.7%
- Price return: 96.7%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: CDNS
#3. Advanced Micro Devices Inc
- Total return: 100.0%
- Price return: 100.0%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: AMD
#2. PayPal
- Total return: 116.5%
- Price return: 116.5%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: PYPL
#1. Nvidia Corporation
- Total return: 122.2%
- Price return: 121.9%
- Dividend return: 0.3%
- Ticker: NVDA
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