The S&P 500 is headed for a big first-half gain. Three key stocks have more than doubled

Published Wed, Jun 28 20232:06 PM EDTUpdated Wed, Jun 28 20233:47 PM EDT

An eventful first half of the year will wrap up Friday, and it's been an unexpectedly strong one. The S & P 500 is up nearly 14% year to date, putting it on track for its best first-half performance since 2021. Back then, the index surged 14.4% in the first six months of the year. Those gains come even as the Federal Reserve kept raising rates, many investors were fearful the economy would fall into a recession and a crisis raised concern over the health of the U.S. banking system. That said, excitement around artificial intelligence bolstered sentiment toward tech stocks, lifting the broader market. In fact, three of the best-performing S & P 500 stocks in the first half rode the wave more than most: Nvidia , Meta Platforms and Tesla . All three stocks have at least doubled year to date, with Nvidia leading the way. The chipmaker is up more than 180% in 2023, while Meta and Tesla are up 137% and 107%, respectively. Nvidia has quickly become an AI darling on Wall Street, with many analysts calling it the best way to gain exposure to the burgeoning trend due to its chips. However, the stock was under pressure after a Tuesday evening report in The Wall Street Journal said the U.S. was considering restricting exports of some AI semiconductors to China. In a note Wednesday, Goldman Sachs' Toshiya Hari noted: "We continue to expect consistent outperformance from NVDA over the medium to long term, given the significant growth opportunity set available to the company outside of China across cloud service providers, consumer internet companies, and other/general enterprises. We maintain our Buy rating and would view any dislocation in the stock as an opportunity to add to positions." NVDA YTD mountain NVDA in 2023 Investors have also flocked to Tesla amid the AI craze, with some citing its potential to bolster the car company's self-driving capabilities . Meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this month touted some " incredible breakthroughs " the company has already seen in its AI-related efforts. — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting.