The post Why energy stocks are crushing the S&P 500 in 2026 appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

As the technology sector stumbled in early 2026, American and international oil giants emerged as market leaders, helping keep the S&P 500 roughly flat year-to-date (YTD) S&P 500 stock market index YTD chart. Source: Google Specifically, while the index itself is down 0.22% and big tech firms such as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) fell 16% and 2% YTD, firms like Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) are flying high, having gained 20% and 13%. CVX and OXY stock YTD price charts. Source: Finbold The strong performance is also evident in the S&P 500’s Energy Index, which is up 17.22% to 822 in 2026. S&P 500 Energy sector index YTD chart. Source: Google Why Oil stocks are flying high in 2026 In part, such a strong performance for oil corporations could have been anticipated. Indeed, a significant part of President Donald Trump’s campaign was rooted in a ‘drill, baby, drill’ philosophy of rejecting much of the green transition and embracing the traditional energy sector. What was not as expected is the scale and type of geopolitical pressures that are helping firms like Chevron, Shell (LON: SHEL), and BP (LON: BP) fly higher in 2026. Chevron, for example, has been a major beneficiary of the U.S. Armed Forces’ operation in Caracas, Venezuela, in early January, as it saw its licenses for exploiting the nation’s reserves expand substantially. The development was only made more significant by the tensions with Iran, since access to the world’s largest proven oil reserves has put the corporation in a position where it has a greater abundance of input at its disposal, while global supply is at risk. Speaking of Iran, the oil-rich country has been involved in extensive negotiations with the Trump Administration within the shadow of mutual sabre-rattling.  The world’s likely…

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Filed under: News - @ February 18, 2026 2:26 pm