How AI Stocks Are Fueling the Current Bull Market: Top Themes and 18 Winners

What Drives Bull Markets: The Power Behind Big Gains

Every major bull market in history has been sparked by a big idea—a breakthrough theme that reshapes industries and the economy. Think of the electrification boom in the 1920s or the internet explosion in the late ’90s.

These themes create a chain reaction: innovation leads to demand, demand drives investment, and investment fuels soaring stock prices. That’s exactly what we’re seeing with AI stocks today.

In the current bull market, which started in October 2022, AI stocks aren’t just pushing prices up—they’re launching them. A single powerful idea can concentrate gains in a few standout companies while lifting entire sectors.

Sure, low interest rates, government spending, and global recovery help. But it’s the theme itself that takes a rally and turns it into a full-blown bull market. When adoption of that theme picks up speed, the market often follows—especially rewarding growth names and AI stocks with outsized returns.

Why AI Stocks are Fueling Today’s Market Rally

At the center of today’s bull run is the AI theme. It’s not just hype—it’s a real shift powered by generative tools, massive data crunching, and scalable infrastructure that’s transforming industries from healthcare to entertainment.

And at the core of this surge? AI stocks are leading the way.

This isn’t just another tech wave – AI is a force multiplier for productivity. And global spending on AI is rising fast, year after year.

It all started when ChatGPT launched in 2022. Since then, we’ve seen enterprise-ready AI systems that can plan and act on their own, models that understand text, images, and video, and better tools to manage ethical risks like bias and privacy.

By October 2025, the AI story includes major breakthroughs:

• Hardware built for massive AI workloads
• Data center infrastructure and energy systems to keep up with demand
• Multi-million dollar partnerships with companies like OpenAI
• Continued growth in large language models
• Automation is expanding in robotics, manufacturing, and business workflows

These breakthroughs are driving real revenue and expectations, and that’s reflected in the performance of AI stocks across the board.

How AI Stocks are Creating Real-world Market Impact

Hyperscalers are investing billions in 2025 capital spending for AI infrastructure. That’s pushing demand for chips, compute power, and electricity through the roof.

And the results are clear: AI stocks have helped push the S&P 500 up 70% since late 2022 with the Nasdaq Up 90%. The biggest winners have been companies tied directly to the AI buildout—whether it’s in semiconductors, cloud services, or automation.

So if you’re looking to understand what’s driving this bull market, start with the theme. And right now, the dominant theme is clear: AI stocks are leading the charge.

How NVIDIA and Semiconductors are Powering the AI Gold Rush

No talk about how AI stocks are driving the current bull market is complete without mentioning NVIDIA (NVDA) and the broader semiconductor sector. These companies are the picks and shovels of the AI boom—providing the GPUs and chips that crunch the trillions of parameters in today’s models.

NVIDIA’s lead is unmatched. Its H100 and Blackwell chips now handle over 80% of all AI training workloads. In fact, its data center revenue surged by over 400% in 2024 alone.

But it’s not just NVIDIA. The whole semiconductor space is riding the AI wave. Foundries like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Micron (MU), and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) are ramping up chip production, with increased revenue while delivering better AI performance.

Top semiconductor winners since October 2022

• NVIDIA (NVDA): Up 1,600%, leading the AI chip race.
• Broadcom (AVGO): Up 730%, building custom AI accelerators for hyperscalers.
• Taiwan Semiconductors (TSM): Up 410%, leading foundry for AI and high-performance chips.
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): Up 330%, growing its data center market share.
• Micron (MU): Up 330% memory chip demand surged for AI applications.

These companies aren’t just enabling AI—they’re turning the theme into real market returns.

How Energy Stocks are Fueling the AI Surge

AI needs massive amounts of power—especially for data centers, which could use up to 5% of all U.S. electricity in the upcoming years. That’s why energy stocks are now a core part of the AI investing story.

From nuclear to renewables, power players are scaling up to meet AI’s rising demand.

AI data centers use as much electricity as a small city—50–100 MW each. Big players are signing multi-gigawatt deals to lock in power for AI growth.

Nuclear plants deliver steady, high-output energy perfect for 24/7 AI operations, while renewables Keep It Green. Solar and wind are booming as tech giants aim for net-zero.

Data centers need strong grids to deliver power. Deals like nuclear restarts and renewable contracts are sparking big moves.

Top energy stocks riding the ai wave

• GE Vernova (GEV): Up 350% from its GE spinoff, focused on renewable, nuclear, and nonrenewable energy sources.
• Oklo (OKLO): Up 2,100% from its 2024 IPO, as a pre-revenue speculative nuclear energy startup.
• Bloom Energy (BE): Up 1,200% from its 2024 low, providing fuel cell technology for clean on-site power generation.
• Vistra (VST): Up 850%, providing nuclear energy.
• Constellation Energy (CEG): Up 700% from its 2022 IPO, a nuclear power play.

As AI capital spending hits $400 billion a year, energy stocks are becoming essential drivers of the bull market.

Why Data Center Stocks are at the Core of AI Infrastructure

AI’s explosive growth needs serious computing muscle—and data center AI stocks are at the heart of making it happen. These massive facilities store and process the huge amounts of data that modern AI models rely on, and they’re helping drive the current bull market.

With hyperscalers like Microsoft and Amazon spending over billions on AI infrastructure, demand for data centers is off the charts. That spending is sending data center stocks soaring as they rapidly scale to keep up.

AI models like ChatGPT crunch trillions of data points. A single training run can take up petabytes of storage. Data centers offer the capacity and speed needed to handle this surge, with global capacity doubling since 2022.

Tech giants are building new data centers everywhere to power AI globally, fueling demand for both operators and the hardware suppliers behind the scenes. Private data centers now offer AI-as-a-service, letting companies rent powerful compute tools.

Top data center AI stocks leading the bull market:

• CoreWeave (CRWV): Climbed over 350% in its IPO Advance Phase.
• Super Micro Compouter (SMCI): Up over 1,700%, as it made new highs before the market bottomed in 2022.
• Iris Energy (IREN): Up 7,000% off its 2022 lows after it transitioned from a bitcoin mining company to a data-center-as-a-service.
• Vertiv Holdings (VRT): Up 1,500% as the leading thermal management system for data center cooling.

Data centers are the engine rooms behind AI—housing the storage and computing infrastructure needed to power today’s most advanced models.

Speculative AI Stocks Driving Big Gains in the Bull Market

If you’re hunting for a bigger upside and can stomach the risk, speculative AI stocks could deliver. Like the dot-com era, some of these names are flying high, but this time with actual revenue behind them.

Here are some of the top speculative AI plays under $50B in market cap:

• SoundHound AI (SOUN): Focuses on voice AI for cars and restaurants. It posted two 400% runs in under 40 days.
• BigBear.ai (BBAI): Specializes in AI analytics for defense. Shares have been jumping between $1 and $10.
• Serve Robotics (SERV): Makes autonomous delivery bots. It saw an 80% spike in volume pushing the price 1,200% higher after its 2024 IPO.
• D-Wave Quantum (QBTS): Non-profitable quantum computing hardware up over 11,000% off its 2023 lows.

These stocks could easily 2–5x if the AI trend keeps rolling—but remember, sharp pullbacks are common in hot sectors. Leading tech may endure, but specualtive fads dwindle away.

Final Thoughts: AI Stocks are More Than a Trend

AI isn’t just a tech story—it’s the engine driving today’s market. From chips and data centers to energy and automation, AI stocks are behind some of the biggest gains we’ve seen in years.

Yes, macro factors like interest rates and global policy matter. But at the end of the day, it’s the theme, the story investors believe in, that fuels a true bull market.

And right now, that story is all about artificial intelligence.

So whether you’re chasing the big names like NVIDIA or exploring smaller speculative plays, one thing’s clear: AI is more than hype—it’s a massive investment shift that’s just getting started.