Bitcoin, Magnificent 7 Lose Safe-Haven Status In 2025 As China ETFs, Dow Stocks Outperform

Many of the top-performing stocks and assets in recent years have stumbled at the start of 2025, with Bitcoin BTC/USD dropping to a three-month low.

Here's a look at the year-to-date performance of top 2024 assets and what's outperforming them.

What Happened: Bitcoin was a top performer in 2024, rising over 100% and hitting multiple all-time highs throughout the year, including shortly after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidency.

While Bitcoin rebounded in January, the leading cryptocurrency has since reversed course, down 10.4% year-to-date in 2025. Once seen as a hedge against interest rates, inflation, and macroeconomic concerns, Bitcoin is now declining alongside other traditionally perceived safe-haven assets.

Magnificent Seven stocks, which were also top performers in recent years, have also been underperformers in 2025, compared to the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY. Here are the year-to-date returns.

• Apple Inc AAPL: -2.4%
• Amazon.com Inc AMZN: -5.3%
• Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL: -10.4%
• Meta Platforms META: +9.9%
• Microsoft Corporation MSFT: -6.4%
• NVIDIA Corporation NVDA: -12.8%
• Tesla Inc TSLA: -24.5%

Compare that to the SPY, which is trading nearly even with its starting year price with a current share price of $585.03. At the time of writing, the ETF is up 39 cents on the year, or 0.07%.

Technology stocks have also outperformed in recent years, helping boost the investment returns of the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ. The ETF, which is heavily weighted in tech stocks, is down 2.0% year-to-date in 2025.

Read Also: Tesla: The Only Magnificent Seven Stock In Freefall – Can It Reverse Course?

The Outperformers: While Bitcoin, tech and the Magnificent Seven stocks are down year-to-date in 2025, there are several places that are outperforming the broad market.

One of the top places is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, tracked by the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA. The ETF is up 2.1% year-to-date in 2025, outperforming the SPY and QQQ. This often happens during periods of economic uncertainty or when industrial and manufacturing investments are stronger than technology investments.

Of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks, 19 are positive year-to-date in 2025—a sharp contrast to the Magnificent Seven, where only one of seven stocks is in the green this year.

Among the Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks, these are the top gainers year-to-date that are each up by double digits:

• Amgen Inc AMGN: +17.5%
• International Business Machines IBM: +16.4%
• 3M Company MMM: +14.2%
• Coca-Cola KO: +13.7%
• Johnson & Johnson JNJ: +12.8%
• Visa Inc V: +10.9%

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRKBRK shares are up 12.3% year-to-date in 2025, despite struggles from its top portfolio holding, Apple. The Warren Buffett-led conglomerate has a history of outperforming the S&P 500, and 2025 could be another strong year.

Perhaps among the bigger surprises for outperformers in 2025 are Chinese stocks. Using the Benzinga Pro screener tool and looking for the top performing stocks year-to-date with market capitalizations of $1 billion or more revealed Xpeng Inc XPEV and Alibaba Group Holdings BABA among the top performers up 82% and 57% respectively.

Chinese ETFs are also performing well in 2025, here are the returns of some of the largest:

• KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF KWEB: +17.4%
• iShares China Larce-Cap ETF FXI: +17.2%
• iShares MSCI China ETF MCHI: +15.9%

The strong returns of several Chinese stocks and the ETFs come as the country faces proposed additional tariffs from President Donald Trump.

With only two months of 2025 behind us, the landscape could change significantly in the next 10 months.

Read Next:

• EXCLUSIVE: This ‘Magnificent 7’ Stock Will Feel The Pinch Of Fed’s Rate Decision, Poll Shows

Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.