By Callum Keown

It's been a roller coaster start to the year and a bad one for the S&P 500. But several stocks defied the volatility to post their best ever quarters.

There's just no stopping Sandisk, despite everything that's happened so far this year. The flash memory supplier jumped 168% in the first quarter--its best ever. The shares have now climbed an astonishing 1,220% over the past 12 months.

Another tech name defied a broader artificial intelligence slump-- Qnity Electronics. Shares in the company, which provides chemicals and materials used to make semiconductors and circuit boards, climbed 41% in the first three months of 2026.

The Iran war dominated the final month of the quarter--the S&P 500 was actually up around 0.5% for the year at the end of February, before tumbling 5% in March to post its worst quarter since 2022. But the conflict did benefit some sectors, particularly energy stocks as oil and gas prices soared.

Exxon Mobil and Phillips 66 both jumped 41% in the first three months of the year--a record quarterly gain for both. Chemicals companies Dow Inc and LyondellBasell Industries also make the list, climbing 78% and 86% respectively. Barron's noted that they are skewed toward gas-based U.S. chemical production. Fertilizer stock CF Industries also had its best quarter, up 68%.

But being an energy company didn't mean guaranteed gains. Constellation Energy fell 21% to post its worst ever quarter. The stock fell 6.5% on Tuesday--the final day of March--as it failed to announce any new deals to power data centers and offered disappointing guidance at a much-anticipated investor event.

Software stocks also had a tough start to the year as fears spread over the impact of artificial intelligence on the sector. The iShares Expanded Tech Software exchange-traded fund tumbled 24%. That partly explains ServiceNow shares having their worst ever quarterly fall--down 32%.

Most of the application software company's fall came in January when it fell 24%. But even CEO William McDermott's plan to buy $3 million of stock, announced in February, didn't lift the shares.

The software slump had a knock-on effect on alternative asset managers amid concerns over lending to companies in the beaten-down sector. Problems in the private credit market have made investors nervous-- Ares Management had its worst quarter on record, falling 34%.

Ares, like several of its peers, capped investor redemptions in the quarter.

Spice and seasoning maker McCormick, web-hosting company GoDaddy, elevator company Otis Worldwide, water technology pure-play Veralto, and fintech provider Broadridge Financial Solutions also recorded their worst ever quarters.

Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 01, 2026 06:47 ET (10:47 GMT)

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