Just 1% stocks generated 95% of global equity gains in 2026.
AI-linked companies drove $11.4 trillion of the $12 trillion wealth creation.
Taiwan and South Korea saw broader equity participation beyond AI leaders.
Just 1% of listed stocks are driving nearly the entire global equity rally this year, according to a recent analysis by Yes Securities, highlighting growing concentration in wealth creation across global markets as investors increasingly crowd into AI-linked companies.
The brokerage analysed the world's top 10,000 listed companies, representing nearly 95% of global equity market capitalisation, and found that almost 95% of the roughly $12 trillion added to global market value in calendar year 2026 came from just 100 stocks.
1 May 2026
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The top 100 companies alone contributed around $11.4 trillion in market-cap gains, while the remaining 9,900 firms accounted for only a marginal share of the increase. The report said the top gainers recorded around 33.6% market-cap appreciation year-to-date compared with just 0.6% for the rest of the global equity universe, suggesting headline indices may be masking weak market breadth underneath.
AI Theme Dominates Global Rally
According to Yes Securities, the rally is being overwhelmingly driven by the artificial intelligence theme. Information Technology accounted for nearly two-thirds of market-cap gains among the top 100 gainers, while Communication Services, Industrials and Energy also emerged as key contributors due to their direct exposure to AI infrastructure.
The brokerage said global capital is increasingly concentrating around AI monetisation and infrastructure development, including semiconductor demand, hyperscale computing, data centre expansion and rising power requirements. Companies viewed as critical to this ecosystem are attracting the bulk of investor flows.
The report also noted that concentration is no longer limited to a handful of mega-cap American technology companies. Similar trends have emerged in China, Japan, France, Germany and the UK, where a small group of stocks generated most gains while the broader market lagged.
Even within the United States, the top 53 stocks accounted for $7.4 trillion in market-cap gains, while the broader domestic equity universe recorded a net decline in aggregate market value. The brokerage said this reflected investor preference for scalable businesses with stronger earnings visibility.
Taiwan, South Korea Stand Out
Taiwan, South Korea and Norway emerged as key exceptions to the narrow rally trend. Taiwan's broader market excluding its top gainers delivered around 35.5% gains year-to-date, while South Korea posted nearly 27%.
The report attributed broader participation in these markets to deeper semiconductor and hardware ecosystems that enabled AI-related gains to spread across a wider set of companies. Norway, meanwhile, benefited from energy-linked earnings supporting a larger section of listed firms.
Brokerage added that the current concentration appears supported by earnings growth rather than speculative excess. The top market-cap gainers are seeing materially stronger FY27 earnings upgrades compared with the broader market, making the rally structurally stronger than liquidity-driven surges seen in previous cycles.
