Europe’s best-performing stocks of 2026 — including one up by 947%

European stock markets have had a turbulent start to 2026.

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The region’s benchmark Euro STOXX 600 index is up 3.5% so far in 2026, behind the US S&P 500’s 8% gain.

But individual companies have seen far bigger swings, with some names up several hundred percent year to date.

Several stocks have surged by more than 100%, driven by the artificial intelligence boom, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, renewed demand for energy infrastructure and growing investor appetite for defence and strategic technologies.

This is a sector-by-sector look at the best-performing companies on the European market with a market capitalisation above €1 billion: what they do, how they make money, and why investors have piled into their shares.

Technology: AI infrastructure drives chip shares higher

Swedish chipmaker Sivers Semiconductors has become Europe’s biggest stock market winner of the year, with shares soaring 947%.

The company develops photonics and semiconductor components used in AI data centres and 5G networks. Investors have piled into the stock as demand grows for optical technologies that can handle the vast computing requirements of artificial intelligence systems.

Revenue is still small — SEK 304.1mn (about €27mn) in 2025, up 25% year on year — but the company said potential future business opportunities increased 64% to $453mn (€385mn), with the bulk of that growth tied to AI photonics.

The rally has been turbocharged by Sivers' April announcement that it will pursue a secondary listing on the Nasdaq in New York.

French semiconductor materials company Soitec has also surged, rising 639% despite weaker recent earnings.

Third-quarter 2026 revenue of €160mn was down 22% year on year on weak mobile and automotive demand.

What has changed the narrative is that investors have focused on the company's position in the AI supply chain. Soitec engineers the thin silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers used by chipmakers for smartphone radio-frequency components, automotive radar and increasingly for co-packaged optics in AI data centres.

Investors are increasingly betting on the company's future as Soitec has a near-monopoly in SOI substrates for photonics, which could become essential for next-generation AI infrastructure, particularly in optical interconnects used by hyperscale data centres.

Industrials: hydrogen and fuel cells back in fashion

In the industrial sector, investors have rediscovered hydrogen and fuel-cell companies.

UK-listed Ceres Power, which develops solid oxide fuel-cell technology, has climbed 237% this year.

Ceres is a UK-listed solid oxide fuel cell developer that licenses its technology rather than building its own systems.

The company has benefited from growing interest in alternative power systems for AI data centres, particularly after US group Bloom Energy signed a major fuel-cell deal with Oracle.

Another British hydrogen company, ITM Power, has risen 173%.

The Sheffield-based group makes electrolysers used to produce green hydrogen. Investors have welcomed stronger revenues, improving profitability and a partnership with German defence giant Rheinmetall on synthetic fuel projects linked to NATO supply chains.

Another development attracting investors' interest is the company's planned Chronos production line, targeting one gigawatt of capacity by 2028. Financing rests on a £46.5mn (€53.7mn) UK government grant pending approval from the Competition and Markets Authority in June.

Healthcare: clinical milestones and weight-loss drugs

French biotech company Nanobiotix has climbed 89% year to date after progress in a late-stage cancer trial backed by Johnson & Johnson improved investor confidence in future milestone payments.

On 4 May, the FDA accepted a protocol amendment to the pivotal NANORAY-312 Phase 3 trial in head and neck cancer.

The change removes a planned interim analysis and reduces the number of events required for the final readout, potentially bringing future payments forward. Nanobiotix is eligible to receive "hundreds of millions" in milestone payments under its 2023 licence agreement with Janssen.

Since the FDA announcement, the stock has already surged 44%.

Healthcare companies linked to the booming market for GLP-1 obesity and diabetes drugs have also seen strong gains.

Swiss manufacturer PolyPeptide has risen 51% this year as pharmaceutical companies race to secure production capacity for peptide-based medicines.

The company produces ingredients used in weight-loss and diabetes drugs made by some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical firms.

Revenue rose 15.6% in 2025 to €389mn, while profitability also improved. The company says it remains on track to double revenue from 2023 levels by 2028.

Demand has been boosted by the rapid growth of GLP-1 obesity drugs, with the market expected to grow at a 12.7% CAGR through 2034.

Communication services: satellites and the AI search beneficiary

French satellite operator Eutelsat has emerged as one of the year’s major geopolitical winners.

Shares are up 64% as European governments increasingly look for alternatives to Elon Musk’s Starlink network amid concerns over technological sovereignty and communications security.

The company’s low Earth orbit OneWeb satellite network has attracted growing strategic interest from European policymakers, while demand for satellite connectivity has also increased during ongoing geopolitical tensions.

At the same time, the Copenhagen-based review platform Trustpilot Group (TRST) has become one of the most unexpected beneficiaries of the generative AI boom. Its London-listed shares have gained 57% year to date.

Operating profit for 2025 quadrupled to $16mn (€14.7mn), driven by a 1,490% year-on-year surge in click-throughs from AI search engines.

Trustpilot ranked as the fifth most-cited domain globally on ChatGPT in January, according to Promptwatch data.

AI chatbots increasingly rely on large databases of human-written reviews to answer consumer questions. Trustpilot's library of 330 million reviews has become an authoritative source for AI-generated answers.

The company increased its profitability targets through to 2030.

Royal Bank of Canada analysts recently called the platform "an AI winner."

Oil, shipping and tourism reshaped by Middle East tensions

The conflict around the Strait of Hormuz has also reshaped European markets in 2026.

Nigerian producer Seplat Energy, listed in London and Lagos, has benefited from higher oil prices, with shares rising 97%.

Chief executive Roger Brown told investors: "The conflict in the Middle East has dramatically changed the outlook for the oil and gas industry in 2026, and quite possibly beyond."

At the same time, Luxembourg-based tanker operator d’Amico International Shipping has climbed 84% as shipping disruptions forced vessels onto longer and more expensive routes.

The company's first-quarter 2026 net profit jumped 45.6% year on year to $27.5mn (€25.2mn), with the daily average spot rate climbing 53% to $32,264 (€29,610), according to the company's 7 May results presentation.

At the same time, Spain's largest hotel chain, Meliá Hotels, has gained 43%.

First-quarter 2026 revenue rose 3.8% to €461.6mn, with the company saying travellers are increasingly choosing Mediterranean destinations such as Spain instead of parts of the Middle East.

Chief executive Gabriel Escarrer told shareholders summer bookings for the group's luxury resorts and urban hotels in Spain were growing at a double-digit pace, with high single-digit revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth expected in the second quarter.

Financials: Insurers and travel groups rebound

Croatia’s largest insurer, Croatia Osiguranje, which has a market capitalisation of about €1bn, has seen its share price up by 62% this year. The company has benefited from renewed investor interest in the country since Croatia adopted the euro and joined the Schengen area.

Croatia Osiguranje operates across several Balkan markets, including Slovenia, Serbia and North Macedonia.

Another winner of the past months in the European equity markets was UK group Saga, with its share price having increased 54% year to date.

Saga is a UK consumer brand built around people over the age of 50.

It sells holiday packages, ocean and river cruises on its own ships, motor and home insurance, and personal finance products to that age group. The year to 31 January 2026 was what management called a "transformational year", with reported stronger profits and lower debt.

Growth in its cruise business and a restructuring of its insurance operations helped improve investor confidence.

Copper, renewables and Europe’s energy transition

Companies linked to electrification and renewable energy have also attracted investors.

Romanian energy infrastructure company Premier Energy has doubled in value after expanding battery storage and renewable power projects across southeastern Europe.

Meanwhile, Spanish utility Cox ABG Group has climbed 53% after announcing a major acquisition of Iberdrola’s Mexican renewable energy platform.

Materials: copper and steel ride structural demand

Klöckner & Co SE, one of Europe’s largest independent steel and metal distributors, has seen its shares rise 55% so far this year.

The rally has been driven by stronger earnings in 2025 and a takeover offer from US-based Worthington Steel, which offered €11 per share and has since increased its stake in the company to 58.78%.

Investors are now betting that any future domination agreement or potential squeeze-out could lead to improved compensation terms for minority shareholders, helping push the stock above the current offer price.

At the same time, Hamburg-based Aurubis, Europe's largest copper producer and one of the world's biggest copper recyclers, has seen its share prices up by 50% this year.

On 8 May, the company raised full-year 2025/26 guidance for the second time, partially due to sustained elevated copper prices, and supported by demand from artificial intelligence data centres, electrification and renewable energy, plus higher revenues from sulphuric acid sales, a key by-product of copper smelting.

Renewables and Europe’s energy transition

Companies linked to electrification and renewable energy have also attracted investors.

One of them, Romanian energy infrastructure company Premier Energy, doubled its value since the beginning of the year. This comes as the group, which owns or manages more than 1,500 megawatts of renewable generation capacity, is expanding battery storage and renewable power projects across southeastern Europe.

In May 2026, the company began construction of a 200 megawatt / 400 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system in northeastern Romania, near Iași, estimated at €75mn and one of the largest in southeastern Europe.

Another winner this year in this category so far is the Seville-based Cox ABG Group, with its share prices up 53% year to date. The integrated water and renewable energy utility with operations across Latin America, Spain and Africa also operates desalination, water purification and water treatment facilities.

Trade in the company's shares rallied mainly after announcing a major acquisition of Iberdrola’s Mexican renewable energy platform.

Food and drink companies

Belgian drinks company Spadel SA (SPA) has seen its shares rise 46% so far this year after reporting strong sales and profit growth in 2025.

The company, which owns mineral water brands including Spa and Bru, said demand had been supported by consumers shifting away from alcohol and sugary drinks.

Shares in M.P. Evans Group (MPE) have also climbed 46% in 2026. The company, which operates palm oil plantations in Indonesia, benefited from high palm oil prices and record profits in 2025, and also raised its dividend after strong earnings.

Real estate companies on the rise

Madrid-based Emperador Properties, a Spanish real estate investment trust, has gained 45% this year as investors bet on a recovery in Spain’s office property market.

It manages roughly 167,719 square metres of prime real estate, valued at around €1bn as of June 2025. In June 2025, the company expanded its portfolio further with a 50% stake in Madrid’s Torre Caleido development.

Meanwhile, shares in shopping centre owner Castellana Properties SOCIMI are up 34% after the company reported strong profit growth and record visitor numbers across its retail portfolio in Spain and Portugal. Castellana also expanded this year with the acquisition of the Berceo shopping centre in northern Spain.

Three themes shaping Europe’s market winners

Three broad themes explain many of this year’s strongest performers.

The first is the artificial intelligence build-out — not the chip designers themselves, but the picks-and-shovels suppliers further down the value chain, who supply the infrastructure needed to support AI systems, including photonics, energy supply, copper and data connectivity.

The second is geopolitics. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz since 28 February has repriced oil, shipping and travel in different directions: African producers selling crude into a tight market (Seplat), product tanker rates at record highs as voyages lengthen (d'Amico), and Mediterranean tourism rerouted away from the Middle East (Meliá).

The third is investor appetite for corporate action — takeovers, buyouts and valuation catalysts that have little to do with operating performance: a US bid for Klöckner, an activist push to close the discount to net asset value at Rocket Internet, and an Iberdrola asset deal that transformed Cox ABG.

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