Momentum traders are enjoying their best stretch in over a decade, with the strategy's flagship fund outpacing the broader U.S. market by the widest margin since records began — and it's a selective basket of stocks, led by Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR, doing all the heavy lifting.

Momentum Strategy Crushes S&P 500

The iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF MTUM is up 11.4% year-to-date through June, versus a modest 2% gain for the S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY.

That nine percentage point lead marks the largest six-month outperformance since MTUM's launch in 2013.

While the absolute performance is below the first half of 2024 — when the AI-fueled rally sent momentum stocks soaring 25% — the relative gap is now wider, as the broader market cooled following U.S. trade tensions and rate uncertainty.

MTUM targets large- and mid-cap U.S. stocks showing strong recent price momentum, adjusting exposure semi-annually to overweight leaders and cut laggards.

The momentum style has clearly paid off in 2025.

Five Stocks Are Driving The Momentum Rally – And Weighting Is The Key

Five stocks are powering the momentum’s outperformance in 2025, thanks to both strong returns and significantly higher weightings than in the S&P 500.

1. Palantir Technologies has surged 83.4% year-to-date and carries a 3.72% weight in MTUM ETF versus just 0.6% in the SPY.
2. Netflix Inc. NFLX is up 38.7% with a 4.88% weight, more than quadruple its 1.03% allocation in the SPY.
3. Philip Morris International Inc. PM has climbed 53.1%, with a 3.25% momentum weight compared to just 0.56% in the broader SPY.
4. Meta Platforms Inc. META, up 18%, holds a 5.2% position in MTUM versus 3% in the SPY.
5. GE Vernova Inc. GEV, up 47.5%, has a 2.13% weight in the momentum ETF, far above its 0.3% SPY weighting.

Together, these five names account for roughly 6.6 percentage points — or over half — of the MTUM's year-to-date return.

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