The following article appeared in the January 5, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.

Subscribe now

If you owned Charlotte stocks in 2025, you probably did very well; City was ‘king of the stock market,’ powered by banks and manufacturers

by Tony Mecia

If you have money in the stock market, the best advice tends to be to have it spread out among a wide range of stocks.

But if, for some reason, you held stocks only in major Charlotte-area companies last year, you probably would have had a better year than the overall market, which was already strong, with major indexes up double digits.

Last year was a boom year for stocks of Charlotte companies. Of 24 local stocks tracked by The Charlotte Ledger, 14 were up by double-digit percentages in 2025 — including five major banks and five large manufacturers.

Charlotte’s gains were so big in 2025 that financial network CNBC published an article Friday headlined “‘Queen City’ Charlotte was the king of the stock market in 2025.” It compared the stock prices of major companies in 36 cities and found that Charlotte came out No. 1, ahead of No. 2 Silicon Valley and No. 3 Washington, D.C. (Dallas was last.)

Charlotte’s stock success was probably mostly a fluky coincidence, but financial services companies that play an outsized role in the city’s economy generally had a strong year because of regulatory shifts and solid earnings, and some manufacturers benefited from tariff changes.

Some of the highlights:

  • Leading the pack in 2025 among the local companies The Ledger follows was CommScope, the Catawba County telecommunications equipment maker, whose stock price more than tripled after it sold off one of its divisions for $10.5B in August. (We are charitably including them on our list even though they moved their headquarters to Texas in November.)

  • The stocks of Charlotte-based banks, and those with significant employment here, also fared well in 2025, including Wells Fargo (+33%), Ally (+26%), Bank of America (+25%), Truist (+13%) and U.S. Bank (+12%).

  • Selected local manufacturers also had a big year. Locally based manufacturers with a strong 2025 were lithium maker Albemarle (+64%), Davidson-based airplane equipment-maker Curtiss-Wright (+55%) and steelmaker Nucor (+40%).

  • Two local companies were taken private in 2025, so they no longer have publicly traded stock: Financial technology company AvidXchange was bought by private-equity firm TPG and payments company Corpay in October, and health care company Premier was bought by private-equity firm Patient Square Capital in November.

  • Major indexes were up above historical averages in 2025, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 13%, the NASDAQ up 20% and the S&P 500 up 16%.

Here’s the full list of how the stock prices of companies with a strong local presence fared in 2025:

  1. CommScope, telecommunications manufacturing, ⬆️ 248%

  2. Albemarle, chemical manufacturing, ⬆️ 64%

  3. Curtiss-Wright, airplane equipment manufacturer, ⬆️ 55%

  4. Nucor, steel manufacturing, ⬆️ 40%

  5. SPX, industrial manufacturing, ⬆️ 37%

  6. LendingTree, financial technology, ⬆️ 37%

  7. Brighthouse Financial, financial services, ⬆️ 35%

  8. Wells Fargo, financial services, ⬆️ 33%

  9. Ally Financial, financial services, ⬆️ 26%

  10. Bank of America, financial services, ⬆️ 25%

  11. Coke Consolidated, beverage manufacturing, ⬆️ 22%

  12. Microsoft, technology, ⬆️ 15%

  13. Truist, financial services, ⬆️ 13%

  14. US Bancorp, financial services, ⬆️ 12%

  15. Duke Energy, utilities, ⬆️ 9%

  16. Kroger, food retail, ⬆️ 2%

  17. Lowe’s Cos., home improvement retail, ⬇️ 2%

  18. Sonic Automotive, automotive retail, ⬇️ 2%

  19. Driven Brands, automotive services, ⬇️ 8%

  20. American Airlines, commercial aviation, ⬇️ 12%

  21. Ingersoll Rand, industrial manufacturing, ⬇️ 12%

  22. Honeywell, industrial manufacturing, ⬇️ 14%

  23. Cato, clothing retail, ⬇️ 21%

  24. Jeld-Wen, building materials manufacturing, ⬇️ 70%

Share

Need to sign up for this e-newsletter? We offer a free version, as well as paid memberships for full access to all 6 of our local newsletters:

Subscribe now

The Charlotte Ledger is a locally owned media company that delivers smart and essential news. We strive for fairness and accuracy and will correct all known errors. The content reflects the independent editorial judgment of The Charlotte Ledger. Any advertising, paid marketing or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.

◼️ About The Ledger • Our Team • Website◼️ Newsletters • Podcast • Newcomer Guide • A Better You email series◼️ Subscribe • Sponsor • Events Board • Merch Store • Manage Your Account◼️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, LinkedIn

Reply

Avatar

or to participate

Keep Reading