Stock Market 2016: 50 Best-Performing Companies In The First Quarter, Square, NYSE: SQ, Breakout

The first quarter of 2016 has been a busy one for the U.S. stock market. After selling off close to 10 percent in early February, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI ) and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (^GSPC ) finished the quarter basically flat on the year; the Dow is up 1.7 percent, and the S&P500 0.9 percent.

Many top-performing companies’ stocks, such as Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB ), sold off and have rebounded, along with the general market. Others, such as with LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD ), have been overcome with selling, and have demonstrated a complete inability to recover.

Financial stocks, such as Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB), have been sold and hover just above 52-week lows on concerns about contingent convertible debt, as reported by The Inquisitr,and the direction of interest rates, after Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Janet Yellen, raised interest rates for the first time in almost 10 years in December, as reported by the Financial Times. Yellen’s move has been speculated to have resulted in the early 2016 stock marketsell-off, and has resulted in the central banker adopting a more dovish tonerecently.

In order to provide a list of quality companies, only those listed on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, with market capitalizations of at least $10 billion, and shares priced at least $15 are included in the list of the best stocks in the first quarter of 2016. Data for the best stocks list is provided by the CNBC stock screener.

2016 Performance: Best Stocks On The NASDAQ

POSCO (NYSE: PKX ) + 34.6 percent.

Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE: SE ) + 27.6 percent.

Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT ) + 23.6 percent.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) + 20.8 percent.

Realty Income Corporation (NYSE: O ) + 20.5 percent.

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE: PEG ) + 20.3 percent.

CH Robinson Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: CHRW ) + 20.2 percent.

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST ) + 19.9 percent.

PACCAR Inc. (NASDAQ: PCAR ) + 15.1 percent.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT ) + 15.1 percent.

ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML ) + 14.0 percent.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT ) + 12.7 percent.

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ ) + 12.0 percent.

2016 Performance: Best Stocks On The New York Stock Exchange

Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM ) + 48.6 percent.

Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE: CLR ) + 29.5 percent.

Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC ) + 27.6 percent.

EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT ) + 27.2 percent.

CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL ) + 26.7 percent.

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN ) + 26.7 percent.

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) + 26.0 percent.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI ) + 24.2 percent.

Coach, Inc. (NYSE: COH ) + 23.2 percent.

Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB ) + 22.1 percent.

Korea Electric Power Corp. (NYSE: KEP ) + 21.7 percent.

Edison International (NYSE: EIX ) + 20.9 percent.

Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR ) + 20.8 percent.

Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE: ETN ) + 20.6 percent.

The Gap, Inc. (NYSE: GPS ) + 20.1 percent.

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE ) + 19.9 percent.

Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG ) + 19.7 percent.

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI ) + 19.7 percent.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS ) + 19.1 percent.

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED ) + 19.0 percent.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE: HPE ) + 17.7 percent.

CMS Energy Corp. (NYSE: CMS ) + 17.0 percent.

Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR )+ 16.8 percent.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ ) + 16.7 percent.

WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: WEC ) + 16.2 percent.

CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS ) + 15.9 percent.

Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR ) + 15.9 percent.

Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL ) + 15.7 percent.

Hewlett Packard Genuine Parts Company (NYSE: GPC ) + 15.4 percent.

Ameren Corporation (NYSE: AEE ) + 15.1 percent.

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK ) + 14.8 percent.

Tyco International plc (NYSE: TYC ) + 14.8 percent.

AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T ) + 14.4 percent.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR ) + 14.1 percent.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE ) + 14.0 percent.

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE: CHT ) + 13.9 percent.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NYSE: NTT ) + 12.0 percent.

Perhaps noteworthy is the number of so-called defensive stocks making the list of best stocks so far in 2016, as reported by Investopedia. Defensive energy, mining, food, and telecom names appear throughout both the NASDAQ and NYSE lists. Interestingly, the NYSE produced 37 of the 50 names making the list of best performing stocks in the first quarter of 2016, while the NASDAQ only produced 13, perhaps owing to the propensity of more defensive companies to list their shares with the NYSE, and likely, other factors as well.

One younger company, likely carrying more risk, but whose stock is performing strongly, is Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ ). Yesterday, stock in Square cleared its all-time high, printed on the first day of its public trading, November 19, 2015, $14.78, on volume more than double the average, to close up 9.3 percent at $15.02.

Stock in Square is up 14.9 percent year to date, and did not make the list of best on the NASDAQ because the company’s market capitalization is $4.9 billion, less than the stipulated amount, and indicative of a higher level of risk. While the Wall Street analyst consensus is for Square to report sales of $1.56 billion in 2016, profits are not forecast until beyond 2017. Just 90 days ago, analysts expected EPS of $0.03 in 2017; today, 2017-views stand at a loss of $0.03 among the 11 firms who publish EPS estimates for the stock.