SoundHound AI has been one of the best-performing stocks on the market in the past year, registering stunning gains of 936% as of this writing, thanks to a combination of factors. SoundHound took off big time in February last year after it emerged that artificial intelligence (AI) giant Nvidia has a small stake in the company.

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) is home to 500 companies from 11 different sectors of the economy, making it the most diversified of the major U.S. stock market indexes. The S&P 500 delivered a return of 25% during 2024,

From acronyms like FANG, then FAANG, to the "Magnificent Seven," investors created ways to group the biggest and fastest growth technology names. While many tech companies should continue to show strong growth in revenue and earnings,

After a stock rises 800% in one year, most investors are skeptical that it can have another great year. I don't blame anyone for having this mindset, as it's difficult for a stock to continue rising at that pace for a sustainable time frame.

Known as one of the U.S. government's most important vendors, Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) and its data gathering and analytics solutions have been used for such critical tasks as fighting terrorism and tracking COVID-19 cases.