The Russell 1000 Index is a market-capitalization-weighted index of the 1,000 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. It represents approximately 92% of the total market capitalization (market cap) of all listed stocks in the U.S. equity market. For this reason, it is considered a bellwether for large-cap investing. Some of the largest companies in the index include Apple Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and The Walt Disney Co. Note that the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions and geopolitical actions have impacted many sectors of the market, some of them significantly. Energy stocks in particular have seen a major boost in recent weeks.
The Russell 1000 provided a total return of -1.4% over the past 12 months. This market performance number and all data below are as of April 26, 2022.
Here are the top five stocks across all sectors with the best value, the fastest growth, and the most momentum.
Value investing is a factor-based investing strategy that involves picking stocks that you believe are trading for less than what they are intrinsically worth, usually by measuring the ratio of the stock’s price to one or more fundamental business metrics. A widely accepted value metric is the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Value investors believe that if a business is cheap compared to its intrinsic value (as measured by its P/E ratio, in this case), then the stock price may rise faster than that of others as the price comes back in line with the worth of the company. These are among the stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing P/E ratio.
| Best Value Stocks | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price ($) | Market Cap ($B) | 12-Month Trailing P/E Ratio | |
| United States Steel Corp. (X) | 31.59 | 8.2 | 2.2 |
| eBay Inc. (EBAY) | 53.10 | 31.2 | 2.6 |
| Ford Motor Co. (F) | 14.71 | 59.1 | 3.3 |
| Bread Financial Holdings Inc. (BFH) | 54.34 | 2.7 | 3.4 |
| Foot Locker Inc. (FL) | 29.13 | 2.8 | 3.4 |
Source: YCharts
- United States Steel Corp.: United States Steel makes high value-added steel products, including its proprietary XG3 advanced high-strength steel. It serves the automotive, construction, appliance, energy, containers, and packaging industries and has operations in the U.S. and Central Europe. U.S. Steel has an annual raw steelmaking capability of 26.2 million net tons.
- eBay Inc.: eBay is an e-commerce company that connects buyers and sellers across more than 190 markets around the world. The company has roughly 1.5 billion active listings and 147 million active buyers worldwide. On April 13, the company announced that Eddie Garcia had been appointed chief product officer. In this role, Garcia will lead eBay’s Core Product organization. Garcia was most recently head of commerce, Facebook app, at Meta Platforms Inc. (FB), where he oversaw Facebook Marketplace.
- Ford Motor Co.: Ford is a major manufacturer of sedans, SUVs, trucks, and other vehicles. It’s mounting a major initiative to catch up to rivals in electric vehicles (EVs) and mobility vehicles. Ford employs roughly 182,000 people worldwide. Ford released Q1 2022 results on April 27. The company posted a net loss of $3.1 billion due largely to a $5.4 billion mark-to-market loss on its investment in electric vehicle (EV) startup Rivian. Revenue fell 4.6%. The results also were affected by ongoing global supply chain issues.
- Bread Financial Holdings Inc.: Bread Financial Holdings is a financial services holding company. Through subsidiaries, it provides personalized payment, lending, and saving products, as well as private label and co-brand credit cards and installment loans. Formerly known as Alliance Data, Bread Financial employs more than 6,000 people globally. On April 25, the company announced that its Comenity Direct consumer deposit brand will now be known as Bread Savings. The service offers high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit. The change of name reflects the company’s overall rebranding.
- Foot Locker Inc.: Foot Locker is an athletic footwear and apparel retailer. It offers a global portfolio of brands, including Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Footaction, and Sidestep. It sells its products in physical stores and direct-to-consumers via the internet and mobile sites as well as catalogs. The company operates roughly 2,900 retail stores in 28 countries around the world.
These are the top stocks as ranked by a growth model that scores companies based on a 50/50 weighting of their most recent quarterly YOY percentage revenue growth and their most recent quarterly YOY earnings per share (EPS) growth. Both sales and earnings are critical factors in the success of a company. Therefore, ranking companies by only one growth metric makes a ranking susceptible to the accounting anomalies of that quarter (such as changes in tax law or restructuring costs) that may make one or the other figure unrepresentative of the business in general. Companies with quarterly EPS or revenue growth of more than 2,500% were excluded as outliers.
| Fastest Growing Stocks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price ($) | Market Cap ($B) | EPS Growth (%) | Revenue Growth (%) | |
| EQT Corp. (EQT) | 38.94 | 14.6 | 1,940 | 235.7 |
| Upstart Holdings Inc. (UPST) | 75.49 | 6.4 | 1,440 | 252.0 |
| Boston Properties Inc. (BXP) | 124.14 | 19.5 | 2,260 | 9.9 |
| Digital Realty Trust Inc. (DLR) | 149.61 | 42.6 | 2,220 | 4.6 |
| Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF) | 26.56 | 13.9 | 2,040 | 47.1 |
Source: YCharts
- EQT Corp.: EQT is an integrated energy company focused on natural gas production in the Appalachian area. The company explores for and produces natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations are focused in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The company owns over 1 million net acres across its portfolio. EQT declared on April 20 a quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per share, payable on June 1 to shareholders of record as of May 11, 2022.
- Upstart Holdings Inc.: Upstart Holdings is a lending platform that uses AI to assess the credit worthiness of potential borrowers. The company’s machine-learning technology enables it to more accurately assess the credit risk of specific borrowers, thus reducing risks for lenders.
- Boston Properties Inc.: Boston Properties is a developer, owner, and manager of Class A office properties in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. The company’s portfolio includes 201 properties representing over 52 million square feet.
- Digital Realty Trust Inc.: Digital Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT). It owns, acquires and operates technology-related properties, including ones focused on services for data centers and colocation. It owns more than 285 data centers in 26 countries. On April 21, the company announced that it had agreed to provide a cash flow guarantee to Singapore-based Digital Core REIT, a publicly traded vehicle that is sponsored by and externally managed by Digital Realty. On April 11, Digital Core’s fifth-largest customer, representing roughly $5 million of annualized revenue and over 7% of total revenue, filed for bankruptcy protection. Digital Realty’s agreement guarantees coverage of the customer’s rental income stream to Digital Core REIT in the event of a near-term cash flow shortfall.
- Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.: Cleveland-Cliffs is a major North American flat-rolled steel producer and supplier of iron ore pellets. The company also supplies stainless steel tubing and other products. It employs 26,000 across 68 operating facilities. On April 22, Cleveland-Cliffs reported Q1 2022 results for the period ended March 31. Net income soared more than 14-fold on a 47.1% increase in revenue, driven in part by significantly higher net selling prices per net ton of steel products.
Momentum investing is a factor-based investing strategy that involves investing in a stock whose price has risen faster than the market as a whole. Momentum investors believe that stocks that have outperformed the market will often continue to do so because the factors that caused them to outperform will not suddenly disappear. In addition, other investors seeking to benefit from the stock’s outperformance will often purchase the stock, further bidding its price higher and pushing the stock higher still. These are the stocks that had the highest total return over the past 12 months.
| Stocks with the Most Momentum | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price ($) | Market Cap ($B) | 12-Month Trailing Total Return (%) | |
| Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) | 56.40 | 37.5 | 175.3 |
| Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) | 24.08 | 17.6 | 126.7 |
| Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) | 54.82 | 51.2 | 120.9 |
| Targa Resources Corp. (TRGP) | 73.56 | 16.8 | 118.0 |
| Continental Resources Inc. (CLR) | 55.39 | 20.2 | 117.7 |
| Russell 1000 | N/A | N/A | -1.4 |
Source: YCharts
- Devon Energy Corp.: Devon Energy is primarily engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). In early 2021, Devon Energy and WPX Energy completed an all-stock merger of equals. Its operations are focused on the U.S. where it employed 1,600 people as of Dec. 31, 2021.
- Marathon Oil Corp.: Marathon Oil is an independent energy company focused on the exploration and production of oil and gas. The company’s operations are located in four of the major resource plays in the U.S.: the Eagle Ford in Texas, the Bakken in North Dakota, the STACK and SCOOP in Oklahoma, and the Permian in New Mexico—as well as operations in Equatorial Guinea. Marathon Oil maintains a roughly 50% oil and 50% gas/NGL production mix.
- Occidental Petroleum Corp.: Occidental Petroleum is primarily and exploration company with operations in oil and gas, chemical and midstream, and marketing. The company makes and markets a variety of chemicals. Occidental currently stores up to 20 million tons of CO2 per year.
- Targa Resources Corp.: Targa Resources is a midstream natural gas and NGL company that gathers, compresses, treats, processes, and sells natural gas. The company’s operations are in Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, and Louisiana, among other sites. Targa operates 28,400 miles of natural gas pipelines and 42 owned and operated processing plants. On April 21, Targa announced that it had completed the previously announced acquisition of Southcross Energy Operating LLC and its subsidiaries in South Texas. The acquisition, announced in March, is valued at $200 million.
- Continental Resources Inc.: Continental Resources is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company. It is the largest leaseholder and among the largest producers in the Bakken oil field region of North Dakota and Montana. The company also has positions in Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Texas. The company employed 1,254 people throughout the U.S., as of Dec. 31, 2021. Continental Resources announced on April 27 that it would increase its quarterly dividend by $0.05 to $0.28 per share. The dividend is payable on May 23 to shareholders of record as of May 9, 2022.
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