We recently published a list of 10 Hottest Large-Cap Stocks So Far in 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) stands against other hottest large-cap stocks so far in 2025.
The stock market as a whole hasn’t had a great start to the year, but there have been some outliers. Focusing on these outliers might pay off in the long run and the statistics behind it — especially this month — are very important. The S&P 500’s calendar year performance has matched the direction of January returns approximately 77% of the time. This means when January shows positive returns, the market finishes higher in 84% of these years with an average annual return of 15.5% for the whole year.
Even if January is negative, the market ends higher some 63% of the time, but with a return of around 2.2%. I’m bringing this up because I believe this correlation can also extend to certain stocks. We’ve seen many mega-cap tech stocks perform well last year after a solid January. A lot of big-cap stocks between $50 billion to $100 billion also performed well.
Accordingly, the methodology for this article involves me screening the top 10 stocks traded in U.S. markets with a market capitalization between $50 billion to $100 billion and then sorted by year-to-date performance.
Close-up of a liquefied natural gas terminal expelling plumes of smoke.
Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG)
- YTD Performance: 10.2%
Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) is a liquefied natural gas company, as the ticker symbol suggests. This company is the largest exporter of LNG in the U.S. and the second-largest LNG producer globally. The performance here has been stellar so far and much better than the performance of many of its peers.
The company’s Q3 financials weren’t the best and revenue declined by 8.8% to $3.7 billion. However, it produced its first LNG at its Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion many months ahead of schedule. Investors find consistency and operational stability appealing. That’s especially true for a capital-intensive business like LNG exports. Even if quarterly revenues here fluctuate, the market likes that Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG) is growing its capacity, while steadily repaying debt, and returning capital to shareholders.
Sales are expected to recover by 18% this year and the Trump Administration should bring about a much better environment for fossil fuel companies like Cheniere.
Overall, LNG ranks 5th on our list of hottest large-cap stocks so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of LNG as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than LNG but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
