So far in 2025, many stocks in the United States technology sector are still stuck in first gear. As of the Mar. 7 close, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA: XLK), which measures the performance of S&P 500 tech stocks, has returned -6%. That is the second worst out of all the SPDR S&P 500 ETFs. It is only beating out the consumer discretionary sector, which has provided a total return of -8%. Among 96 U.S. large-cap tech stocks, only 33 have provided a positive total return in 2025 as of the Mar. 7 close.
Evidently, although performance has been weak across most of the sector, some stocks are rising above the noise. Below, is a look at three stocks that are among the best performers in the U.S. tech sector as winter nears its close.
Okta: Taking the Large Cap Tech Returns Crown So Far in 2025
[content-module:MarketRank|NASDAQ:OKTA]Access management stock Okta (NASDAQ: OKTA) takes the cake for the highest return among those 96 large-cap U.S. tech stocks so far in 2025, up nearly 43%. Many know Okta as a workplace tool that companies use to make it easier to sign in to different applications.
Okta reported earnings in the first week of March that greatly impressed markets. The stock surged over 24% in just one day. Aside from posting results that exceeded expectations for Q4 2024, the company also significantly raised its full-year 2025 guidance. The firm increased its full-year revenue growth guidance from 7% to 10%. It sees adjusted earnings growth of 13%, compared to the 11% Wall Street was looking for.
A lot went well at Okta last quarter to make this happen. The company saw its first quarter of $1 billion in bookings. Around 20% of these bookings came from new products, a very positive sign as the company looks forward.
Additionally, the company is working with some very large customers. The average total contract size of its top 25 largest deals in Q4 was just under $13 million. Adding to the impressiveness last quarter is the fact that Okta recently announced plans to cut 3% of its workforce. This shows the company believes it can grow faster with fewer costs, a golden combination for making money. Ultimately, Okta’s stunningly good quarter resulted in analysts at Oppenheimer naming Okta a “top pick” going forward.
Cloudflare: Big Gains in Large Customers Lead to Big Gains in Shares
[content-module:MarketRank|NYSE:NET]Shares of cloud-based cybersecurity software company, Cloudflare (NYSE: NET), are also starting 2025 off hot. As of Mar. 7, the stock is up nearly 18%.
Two very good days for this stock, Jan. 28 and Feb. 7, have driven most of these gains. Jan. 28 was a big day for many tech stocks, which rebounded the day after what some dubbed as the “DeepSeek Rout” on Jan. 27.
However, for Cloudflare, it wasn’t a rebound at all. Cloudflare shares were up slightly on the day of the DeepSeek news and then jumped nearly 11% the day after.
The real meat and potatoes of Cloudflare’s 2025 gains came on Feb. 7, the day after it reported earnings. Shares spiked 18%, beating Wall Street’s high expectations on both sales and adjusted earnings. The company saw strong growth in its number of large customers, which increased by 27%.
Particularly impressive is the growth in the company’s largest customer cohort, $1M+ customers. The number of customers in this group rose by 47%.
IBM: “Big Blue” Is Generating Big Green Returns to Start Off 2025
[content-module:MarketRank|NYSE:IBM]Last up is International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM). This legacy tech stock has provided a total return of nearly 20% in 2025 as of the Mar. 7 close.
Shares gained nearly 5% on Mar. 7 after news that IBM’s Chief Executive Officer will meet with President Trump to discuss tariff and export policies. It is possible that IBM could convince the President not to implement certain policies that would be detrimental to its business.
The company also saw its shares spike 13% after its Jan. 29 earnings. Aside from beating both the top and bottom lines, the report highlighted a highly encouraging aspect related to the company’s AI offerings.
It now has a $2 billion GenAI-related business, 75% of which comes from consulting. IBM has built trust with many large enterprises over the years.
This has clearly helped position it as an important resource as businesses look for help in understanding how they can actually implement AI to improve operations.
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