{"id":114742,"date":"2025-09-02T17:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/114742\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T17:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:33:08","slug":"these-were-the-2-top-performing-stocks-in-the-sp-500-in-august-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/114742\/","title":{"rendered":"These Were the 2 Top-Performing Stocks in the S&#038;P 500 in August 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Key Points<\/p>\n<p>Investors celebrated diminished competition for chemical outfit Albemarle.<\/p>\n<p>After a miserable Q2 performance, meanwhile, a health insurer got a much-needed (and high-profile) vote of confidence.<\/p>\n<p>Still, interested investors will want to think very carefully before taking on a stake in either of these suddenly hot stocks.<\/p>\n<p>When all was said and done, last month ended up being a decent one for the broad market. The S&amp;P 500(SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) ended August 1.9% above where it started. For a couple of S&amp;P 500 stocks, however, the month was far better.<\/p>\n<p>Chemical company Albemarle(NYSE: ALB) was August&#8217;s biggest S&amp;P 500 winner, up a little more than 25% after China&#8217;s Contemporary Amperex Technology Company shut down operations at one of the world&#8217;s biggest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/stock-market\/market-sectors\/materials\/metal-stocks\/lithium-stocks\/?utm_source=globeandmail&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=0b5aebba-1977-45b4-856c-bd2e045167b5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">lithium<\/a> mines. Since Albemarle also owns and operates lithium mines, a diminished supply of the metal used to make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/stock-market\/market-sectors\/consumer-discretionary\/automotive-stocks\/electric-vehicle-battery-stocks\/?utm_source=globeandmail&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=0b5aebba-1977-45b4-856c-bd2e045167b5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">electric vehicle batteries<\/a> creates greater demand for Albemarle&#8217;s products.<\/p>\n<p>Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. <a href=\"https:\/\/api.fool.com\/infotron\/infotrack\/click?apikey=35527423-a535-4519-a07f-20014582e03e&amp;impression=82871d85-976d-49e1-869c-49a04985dddd&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-sa-bbn-bn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0001026%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_veh%3Dtop_incontent_pitch_feed_partner%26ftm_pit%3D17174&amp;utm_source=globeandmail&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=0b5aebba-1977-45b4-856c-bd2e045167b5\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Learn More \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>That being said, the stock had the advantage of hitting the ground running early in the month. Albemarle&#8217;s second-quarter sales of $1.3 billion and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/how-to-invest\/stocks\/gaap-vs-non-gaap\/?utm_source=globeandmail&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=0b5aebba-1977-45b4-856c-bd2e045167b5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">non-GAAP<\/a> (adjusted) per-share income of $0.11 reported at the very end of July were both better than expected, while the bottom line was considerably better than analysts&#8217; estimates for a loss of around $0.84 per share.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" alt=\"An excited middle-aged man sitting at a desk looking at a laptop.\" src=\"https:\/\/barchart-news-media-prod.aws.barchart.com\/FC\/d7b53d73fae5f424bb473712e4eccab8\/%3Furl%3Dhttps%253a%252f%252fg.foolcdn.com%252feditorial%252fimages%252f830914%252fsurprised-happy-amazed.jpg%26amp%3Bw%3D700\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\">Image source: Getty Images.<\/p>\n<p>Shares of S&amp;P 500 constituent and health <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/stock-market\/market-sectors\/financials\/insurance-stocks\/?utm_source=globeandmail&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=0b5aebba-1977-45b4-856c-bd2e045167b5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">insurer<\/a>UnitedHealth Group(NYSE: UNH) rallied a little more than 24% last month, mostly in response to news that Warren Buffett&#8217;s Berkshire Hathaway had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2025\/08\/30\/warren-buffett-just-sold-4-billion-of-apple-stock\/?utm_source=globeandmail&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=0b5aebba-1977-45b4-856c-bd2e045167b5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">taken on a stake<\/a> in the beaten-down stock.<\/p>\n<p>Just keep the move in perspective. The stock&#8217;s still down 48% from April&#8217;s peak thanks to the 60% sell-off from that high to the multiyear low hit in early August following a disappointing first-quarter report and subsequent reductions for its full-year earnings outlook. The company&#8217;s now only looking for 2025 earnings of &#8220;at least $16.00&#8221; per share, well down from guidance of between $29.50 and $30.00 per share as of the end of last year. Unexpectedly high costs (particularly for its Medicare Advantage plans) are the chief culprit.<\/p>\n<p>While both gains are impressive, in and of themselves, they aren&#8217;t reason enough to step in. You&#8217;ll still want to be sure these companies are actually worth owning before buying into either of them.<\/p>\n<p>Should you invest $1,000 in Albemarle right now?<\/p>\n<p>Before you buy stock in Albemarle, consider this:<\/p>\n<p>The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the <a href=\"https:\/\/api.fool.com\/infotron\/infotrack\/click?apikey=35527423-a535-4519-a07f-20014582e03e&amp;impression=52242427-9d2d-4af4-b7e6-a918cc65e219&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-sa-bbn-bn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0001093%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_veh%3Darticle_pitch_feed_partners%26ftm_pit%3D17514&amp;utm_source=globeandmail&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=0b5aebba-1977-45b4-856c-bd2e045167b5\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">10 best stocks<\/a> for investors to buy now\u2026 and Albemarle wasn\u2019t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.<\/p>\n<p>Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004&#8230; if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you\u2019d have $651,599!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005&#8230; if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you\u2019d have $1,067,639!*<\/p>\n<p>Now, it\u2019s worth noting Stock Advisor\u2019s total average return is 1,049% \u2014 a market-crushing outperformance compared to 185% for the S&amp;P 500. Don\u2019t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"ticker_pitch\" href=\"https:\/\/api.fool.com\/infotron\/infotrack\/click?apikey=35527423-a535-4519-a07f-20014582e03e&amp;impression=52242427-9d2d-4af4-b7e6-a918cc65e219&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-sa-bbn-bn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0001093%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D17514%26ftm_veh%3Darticle_pitch_feed_partners%26company%3DAlbemarle&amp;utm_source=globeandmail&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;referring_guid=0b5aebba-1977-45b4-856c-bd2e045167b5\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">See the 10 stocks \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of August 25, 2025<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/author\/4549\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">James Brumley<\/a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool recommends UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/legal\/fool-disclosure-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">disclosure policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" style=\"display:none;\" referrerpolicy=\"unsafe-url\" src=\"https:\/\/barchart-news-media-prod.aws.barchart.com\/FC\/d7b53d73fae5f424bb473712e4eccab8\/pixel%3Fslug%3Dmotleyfoolgm-2025-9-2-these-were-the-2-top-performing-stocks-in-the-s-and-p-500-in-august-2025\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Key Points Investors celebrated diminished competition for chemical outfit Albemarle. After a miserable Q2 performance, meanwhile, a health&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114743,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[64560,64561,45,49,48,2640,2637,2636,2639,2638,2641,100,1837],"class_list":["post-114742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-markets","tag-berkshire-hathaway-cl-b","tag-brk-b","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-futures","tag-index-market-quote","tag-index-market-quotes","tag-index-market-symbol","tag-index-market-symbols","tag-indices","tag-markets","tag-the-globe-and-mail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}