Best performing stocks: March 2022

The stock market has had a wild ride recently. The market has put investors to the test, from pandemic-induced sell-offs to record highs in 2021 and a rocky start to 2022. The S&P 500 is down 8% through February 25 due to concerns about continuously high inflation, Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, and geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine.

Investors should focus on long-term performance rather than short-term volatility while shopping for the finest companies.

A few top-performing stocks have defied the bearish trend, which is good news for investors. Oil and gas equities are benefiting from rising energy prices, and also biotechnology stocks which have disclosed favorable pipeline catalysts, are among the top performers. Here are the top ten best-performing equities in 2022, based on market capitalizations of at least $1 billion and traded on major U.S. exchanges. Returns are accepted till February 25.

Best Growth Stocks

·        EQT Corporation: EQT Corporation is a prominent independent natural gas producer with a forward-thinking approach to the future. EQT operates across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, and is committed to developing our world-class asset base responsibly in the heart of the Appalachian Basin. Employees, landowners, communities, industry partners, and investors are all benefiting from EQT's efforts to become the best producer. The corporation owns a majority interest in EQT Midstream Partners, LP through its investment in EQGP Holdings, LP. EQM owns and operates midstream assets in the Appalachian Basin, where it provides water services to aid well completion and collects, recycles, and disposes of flowback and produced water.

·        Upstart Holdings Inc.: Upstart is an artificial intelligence (AI) lending platform that works with banks and credit unions to provide consumer loans based on non-traditional factors like education and job to forecast creditworthiness. Dave Girouard, former President of Google Enterprise, Paul Gu, a Thiel Fellow, and Anna Counselman, former Manager of Global Enterprise Customer Programs and Gmail Consumer Operations at Google, make up the founding team. Upstart made its debut in April 2012 with an Income Contribute Agreement (ISA) product, which allowed people to raise money by agreeing to share a percentage of their future earnings. Upstart shifted its focus away from this product and into the personal loan industry in May 2014. Upstart began offering a typical 3-year loan after this shift, and has recently expanded to include a 5-year financing option.

·        United States Steel Corporation: United States Steel Corporation (US Steel) is a North American and European integrated steel producer that produces and sells steel products such as flat-rolled and tubular goods. North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U.S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products are the company's four segments (Tubular). In addition to railroad services and real estate operations, the company engages in other business activities. It owns, develops, and maintains real estate holdings, mostly in Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, totaling roughly 45,000 acres of surface rights. It has sites in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, and Slovakia that perform a variety of applied research, development, and technical support services.

·        Digital Realty Trust Inc.: Digital Realty Trust, Inc. is a REIT, real estate investment trust, that invests in operational data centers and offers colocation and peering services. As of December 31, 2019, the company had interests in 225 operational data center facilities in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia, totaling 34.5 million rentable square feet. Northern Virginia, Dallas, Chicago, New York State, Silicon Valley, and London are the company's largest operational areas. The company is part of The Green Grid and has contributed to the development of energy-efficient and energy-saving data center design designs.

·        Boston Properties Inc.: Boston Properties, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust based in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The firm controlled and has had interests in 196 commercial real estate properties since of December 31, 2019, totaling about 52.0 million net rentable square feet.

Best Value Stocks

Value investing is a big driver investment technique in which you select stocks that you feel are trading for less than their inherent value, usually by comparing the stock's price to one or more fundamental company indicators. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is a widely used value statistic. Value investors believe that if a company's stock price is low compared to its intrinsic value, the stock price will rise faster than others as the price catches up to the company's worth. The following stocks have the lowest 12-month trailing P/E ratios:

·        UMW Holdings: UMW Holdings Berhad (MYX: 4588) is one of Malaysia's largest firms and a significant industrial organization, serving the Malaysian and Asia-Pacific economies. The UMW Group has a market capitalization of RM11 billion and is one of the most well-known companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia. It has a net worth of RM2.3 billion and employs over 7,500 people who serve clients through a statewide distribution network.

·        United States Steel Corporation: United States Steel Corporation (US Steel) is a North American and European integrated steel producer that produces and sells steel products such as flat-rolled and tubular goods. North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U.S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products are the company's four segments (Tubular). In addition to railroad services and real estate operations, the company engages in other business activities. It owns, develops, and maintains real estate holdings, mostly in Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, totaling roughly 45,000 acres of surface rights. It has sites in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, and Slovakia that perform a variety of applied research, development, and technical support services.

·        Qurate Retail Inc.: Qurate Retail Inc. is an e-commerce services company with 7 retail brands including Zulily, QVC, HSN, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road, Frontgate, and Ballard Designs; reaching reach 218 million households globally.  It also, provides video and digital commerce services in collaboration with television networks, e-commerce sites, streaming services, social pages, mobile apps, and print catalogs.

·        Ebay: eBay is an e-commerce business that connects worldwide consumers and sellers in over 190 markets across the world through its platforms. Globally, the firm has 1.5 billion active listings and about 147 million active buyers, as of its  fourth quarter of 2021 ended on December 31. The company recorded a 133 percent year-over-year (YOY) increase in net income on a 5.4 percent increase in net revenues in that quarter. Growth in eBay's advertising business and emphasis categories, according to the company, aided performance.

·        SAGE Therapeutics: Sage Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical business focused on developing new treatments for those suffering from severe brain illnesses. The company focuses on brain diseases and disorders in critical areas like depression, neurology, and neuropsychiatry. It sells Zulresso, a medicine used to treat postnatal depression, and has a variety of other drugs being developed.