Hot stocks: Canada’s top performers 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 in part explains its newfound appeal to investors. The company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter 2026 results in April and again beat analysts’ estimates for its first quarter of fiscal 2027 last week, adding a rosy forecast for the rest of the year. It marked BlackBerry’s fifth consecutive profitable quarter.

The S&P/TSX Composite likewise notched its eighth consecutive quarter of gains in Q2 2026, the stock index’s longest winning streak in three decades. Canada’s leading index rose 6.37% for the three-month period on a price basis and 6.96% on a total return basis, including dividends. 

But market returns were even better south of the border. The S&P 500 index in the U.S. improved on its modest start to the year with a 14.87% price return since March 31 and 15.2% total return (in USD). If you held an unhedged S&P 500 index fund, your return in Canadian dollars would be about 17%.

Another standout among Canadian stocks with a 209% gain in the second quarter was Keel Infrastructure, formerly known as Bitfarms and now headquartered in New York City. The company has seemingly come from nowhere to a market capitalization of $5.7 billion. Keel builds data centres and associated power infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada that is in high demand for AI. Last week, Keel was added to the Russell 3000 index of small-cap stocks.

The third top performer among Canadian mid- to large-caps was Hut 8 Corp., with a gain of nearly 160% in Q2. The markets have endorsed the Miami-based company’s pivot from cryptocurrency mining towards digital and power infrastructure. Revenues have more than tripled over the past year, but cautious investors will be mindful of the company’s lingering losses.

Unlike the first quarter, when energy companies dominated the list of top performers, there was no clear sectoral skew to Q2’s standouts beyond the AI theme among the top three. The top 10 best-performing stocks with a market cap of $2 billion or more represented the technology, industrials, materials, healthcare, and consumer discretionary sectors.

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

There was no overlap between this quarter’s top 10 and the leaders from the previous quarter. This demonstrates that, though momentum is a demonstrated factor in equities investment, past performance is not a predictor of future returns.

About Michael McCullough

Michael is a financial writer and editor in Duncan, B.C. He’s a former managing editor of Canadian Business and editorial director of Canada Wide Media. He also writes for The Globe and Mail and BCBusiness.