'Queen City' Charlotte was the king of the stock market in 2025

• Charlotte's winning portfolio included Albemarle (lithium) up 64%, Curtiss-Wright (aerospace) up 57%, and Nucor (steel) up 40%
• Silicon Valley came second despite massive gains from AppLovin (112%), Alphabet (66%), and Nvidia (41%), hurt by ServiceNow's 28% decline
• Washington D.C. ranked third with 17% median return, powered by defense contractors RTX (59%) and other Pentagon-adjacent firms

Charlotte Leads 2025 Stock Market Performance in CNBC's Power City Index Rankings

Charlotte, North Carolina topped CNBC's exclusive Power City Indexes (PCI) for 2025 with a median return of over 22%, narrowly beating Silicon Valley's 21%. The PCI tracks the 11-12 largest market cap companies headquartered in 36 U.S. metro areas, using equally-weighted stocks measured by median returns.

Charlotte's Winning Portfolio:

• Lithium miner Albemarle (ALB) led with 64% gains
• Aerospace company Curtiss-Wright (CW) rose 57%
• Steel producer Nucor (NUE) gained 40%
• Bank of America (BAC) up 25%
• Seven of Charlotte's companies posted 20%+ returns

Silicon Valley's Strong Second Place:

• AppLovin (APP) surged 112%
• Alphabet (GOOGL) gained 66%
• Applied Materials (AMAT) up 60%
• Broadcom (AVGO) rose 50%
• Nvidia (NVDA) added 41%
• ServiceNow (NOW) dragged down performance with -28% return

Washington D.C. Metro Ranked Third:

• Defense contractors drove performance with RTX up 59%
• Capital One (COF) gained 37%
• General Dynamics (GD) rose 28%
• Median return approximately 17%

Key Market Insights:

Traditional industries outperformed AI hype in 2025, with lithium mining and steel production leading gains. Defense contractors showed strong performance amid geopolitical tensions. Dallas recorded the worst PCI performance with a -10% median return.

The PCI methodology uses company headquarters location regardless of operational footprint, tracking stocks until delisting when replacements are added. This marks Charlotte's emergence as a surprising market leader, driven by industrial and commodity plays rather than technology stocks.