The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) is off to a brutal start to 2022, down 12.1% year-to-date. Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) has been one of the worst performers of all so far this year, dropping 43.3%.
Robinhood traders had some of the hottest hands in the market in 2021, generating huge returns from short squeezes in meme stocks and riding the wave of high-growth tech stocks. Unfortunately, the tide has turned against growth stocks in 2022. Fortunately, a handful of the top 100 stocks held by Robinhood users have done exceptionally well in 2022 as well.
Here are the six top-performing Robinhood stocks of the year so far.
6. Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CPRX)
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for people with rare debilitating neuromuscular and neurological diseases.
The company seemingly has plenty of positive momentum, including orphan drug exclusivity for FIRDAPSE and three new patents for treatment of patients with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS). Catalyst reported $141 million in 2021 revenue and had guided for between $195 million and $205 million in revenue in 2022.
Catalyst shares have rallied 15.1% year-to-date. That performance may not seem particularly impressive, but it's certainly enough to make the stock a top Robinhood performer in an incredibly weak 2022 market.
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5. United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL)
United Airlines is one of the "big four" U.S. airlines.
Robinhood investors have a number of different travel stocks among their top 100 holdings as they bet on a huge rebound in the industry in 2022. However, United is the top performer in the Robinhood travel group and among all the top 100 Robinhood stocks, gaining 18.5% year-to-date.
In April, United said it expects to turn a profit in 2022 and is forecasting operating margins of 10% in the second quarter. In addition, the company expects revenue per passenger mile to exceed 2019 pre-pandemic levels by 17%.
4. Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA)
Zynga specializes in social media gaming, including games such as Chess with Friends, Crazy Cake Swap, Draw Something and FarmVille.
In January, Zynga shareholders received the excellent news that the company is being acquired by video game developer Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) for $12.7 billion, a buyout price of $9.86 per share. At the time, the buyout price represented a 64% premium to Zynga's previous day's closing price.
Even though the buyout deal seemingly caps upside, Zynga shares are still trading well below the buyout price at $8.45. The stock is up 32.8% overall year-to-date.
3. Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)
The Russian invasion of Ukraine combined with already booming global economic reopening energy demand to send oil, natural gas and coal prices skyrocketing in 2022. Not surprisingly, the energy sector has been one of the few bright spots in the market this year.
Energy Transfer is a leading provider of midstream oil and gas infrastructure, with a focus on the U.S. Lower 48, and an emphasis on logistics of liquids. Just this week, the company reported $1.27 billion in net income attributable to partners and raised its quarterly distribution by 30% to 80 cents on an annualized basis, or a yield of about 6.5%.
Energy Transfer shares are up 46.7% year-to-date.
2. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM)
There are plenty of green energy and electric vehicle stocks among the Robinhood top 100 holdings, but big oil is at the top of the list of best-performing investments.
Exxon Mobil is the largest U.S. oil major, and the company has ridden the wave of soaring energy prices to huge profits so far this year. Even after recording a $3.4 billion hit to its Russia business, Exxon reported $5.5 billion in earnings in the first quarter. The company also bought back $2.1 billion in stock and said it expects to buy back $30 billion total through 2023. On top of those buybacks, Exxon shares also pay a 3.8% dividend.
The stock is up 49.8% year-to-date.
1. Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO)
It should come as no surprise that the top-performing Robinhood stock of the year comes from the oil and gas industry. Marathon Oil is an independent upstream company with mainly U.S. operations, complemented by assets in Equatorial Guinea.
Marathon generated $940 million of adjusted free cash flow in the first quarter and returned half of its cash flow from operations to investors via $592 million in buybacks and $52 million in dividend payments. Marathon has committed to returning at least 40% of CFO to investors and has already repurchased $900 million in shares in 2022.
Even without including its 1.1% dividend, Marathon Oil is by far the top-performing Robinhood stock of 2022 so far, up 68.6% year-to-date.
