Hot stocks: Canada’s top players in Q2 2026

Of course, BlackBerry is no longer in the handset business. It develops software for cars and mobile security and has a growing artificial intelligence (AI) business in partnership with chipmakers including Nvidia Corp., which partly explains its new appeal to investors. The company reported better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter of 2026 in April and again beat analysts’ estimates for its first quarter of fiscal 2027 last week, adding a positive outlook for the full year. It marked BlackBerry’s fifth consecutive profitable quarter.

The S&P/TSX Composite also posted its eighth straight quarter of gains in Q2 2026, the stock index’s longest winning streak in three decades. Canada’s leading index rose 6.37% over the three-month period in value and 6.96% in total return, including dividends.

But the market recovery was much better south of the border. The S&P 500 index in the US had a better start to the year with a price return of 14.87% since March 31 and a total return of 15.2% (in USD). If you were holding a non-leveraged S&P 500 index fund, your return in Canadian dollars would be around 17%.

Another standout among Canadian stocks with a 209% gain in the second quarter was Keel Infrastructure, formerly known as Bitfarms and now based in New York City. The company appears to have come out of nowhere entering the $5.7 billion market capitalization. Keel is building data centers and related energy infrastructure in the US and Canada that are on-demand with AI. Last week, Keel was added to the Russell 3000 index of small-cap stocks.

The third largest player among Canadian mid- to large-caps was Hut 8 Corp., with a gain of nearly 160% in Q2. Markets approved the Miami-based company’s pivot from cryptocurrency mining to digital infrastructure and energy. Revenue has more than tripled in the past year, but cautious investors will be mindful of the company’s continued losses.

Unlike the first quarter, when energy companies dominated the list of top players, there was no clear cut sector for Q2 to shine beyond the theme of AI among the top three. The top 10 best-performing stocks with a market cap of $2 billion or more represent the technology, industrials, materials, health care, and consumer discretionary sectors.

Here are Canadian mid- to large-cap stocks that performed best during Q2 2026:

There was no overlap between the top 10 this quarter and the previous quarter’s leaders. This shows that, although momentum is a reflected factor in stock investing, past performance is not a predictor of future returns.

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About Michael McCullough

Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, BC He was previously managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.