Silver Is Up 110% This Year: Only 9 S&P 500 Stocks Have Done Better
For years, silver was the quiet metal in the room.
It dutifully powered electronics, solar panels, and jewelry cases, yet rarely stirred much excitement in markets. Investors saw it as dependable but unremarkable, an industrial workhorse that never quite lived up to its dramatic potential.
But 2025 changed everything.
On Tuesday, silver rallied past $60 per ounce, extending its year-to-date gain to 110%, on track for its best year since 1979, when the Hunt Brothers' attempt to corner the silver market sent prices vertical.
Silver hasn't just outperformed, it has obliterated every major asset class this year:
- Gold, as tracked by the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD), is up about 60%.
- The S&P 500 — via Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) — is up roughly 16.6%
- The Nasdaq‑100 — via Invesco QQQ (NASDAQ:QQQ) — has gained about 22%
- Long-term bonds tracked by the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) are up 0.8%
- Bitcoin — via iShares Bitcoin ETF (NYSE:IBIT) — is down 0.6%.
"Silver is up 6 TIMES as much as the S&P 500 YTD amid one of the strongest stock market bull runs in history," The Kobeissi Letter said in a post on social media X on Tuesday.
If silver were a member of the S&P 500, it would be sitting today inside the top ten performers of the year, leaving AI darlings like Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) and even Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) behind.
So, why is an industrial metal like silver outperforming booming equities, AI-driven tech momentum, and even gold?
Chart: Silver Has Outperformed Every Major Asset Classes In 2025
Why Silver Is Outpacing Everything Else
Crescat Capital’s macro analyst Otavio "Tavi" Costa highlighted silver's move as "a moment of profound significance," tying it to something bigger than metals trading.
In his view, the move ties directly to long-term inflation pressures, the slow erosion of fiat currency value, growing financial repression, and a global monetary system showing signs of strain.
Costa believes silver is approaching one of the most meaningful breakouts in its history.
The detail that should have caught every investor’s attention is that even after doubling this year, the metal still trades roughly 80% below its inflation-adjusted 1980 peak.
“This is what explosive price discovery looks like in action, in my view," Costa said.
Commodity analyst Tim Hack indicates that the gold–silver ratio—now near 70—could "crash to 45 in mere weeks," a shift historically associated with violent silver outperformance.
"The supply has been drying up for years," he warns. "Demand is rapidly increasing. Something has to give."
Why Now? The Forces Behind Silver's Explosion
1. Supply shortages are becoming structural
Mine output has stagnated. Recycling flows aren't keeping up. Industrial demand, especially from green energy, is rising aggressively. A squeeze doesn't happen all at once; it builds silently until it suddenly doesn't.
2. Rate cuts change everything
Silver thrives when interest rates fall. The market is pricing a shift toward easier policy, and metals sensitive to monetary conditions — silver most of all — are responding first.
3. Gold's breakout is spilling over
When investors chase gold for safety or policy reasons, they often turn to silver next for leverage and volatility. Historically, silver outperforms gold late in a precious-metals cycle — and that's exactly what's happening.
4. A search for undervalued assets
Investors are rotating into things that haven't already gone parabolic. In a world where AI stocks, energy names, and crypto have all had their run, silver suddenly looks… cheap.
If Silver Were A Stock, It Would Be A Star
Only nine S&P 500 companies have outperformed silver this year as of Dec. 9, and those include some of the biggest comeback or AI-leverage stories in the index:
- Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) +266%
- Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) +229%
- Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) +199%
- Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) +186%
- Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) +166%
- Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) +151%
- Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) +140%
- Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) +129%
- AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) +123%
What This All Means
Silver isn't just having a strong year, it's flashing a macro message.
A message about monetary policy, structural inflation, supply shortages, and a world preparing for a fundamentally different economic environment.
And the strangest part? Many analysts believe this is just the beginning. If that's true, then silver's 110% rally isn't the story; it's the opening chapter.
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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.