The sharp rotation that defined Q1 2026 reversed quickly through April. After Energy-driven returns helped Large Cap Value and Mid Cap benchmarks finish the quarter modestly positive, while Large Cap Core and Growth struggled under Technology weakness, April delivered a powerful “risk-on” rally led once again by AI enthusiasm and mega-cap technology stocks. The S&P 500 ETF has advanced 12.4% with the Nasdaq 100 ETF rising more than 20%, while mid-cap stocks struggled to keep up, rising only 7.6%. Strong earnings helped fuel the move, with more than 84% of S&P 500 companies reporting through late April exceeding EPS estimates. Yet the rally was still highly concentrated: the S&P 500 equal-weight index rose less than 6%, underscoring how much market leadership continued to depend on AI-related mega-cap winners.
L2 Large Cap Core Trade Strategy – May Q2 2026
Table of contents
When
May 20, 2026
Who
Matthew Malgari
Dr. Sanjeev Bhojraj
Nathan Przybylo
ASSET CLASS COMMENTS:
The sharp rotation that defined Q1 2026 reversed quickly through April. After Energy-driven returns helped Large Cap Value and Mid Cap benchmarks finish the quarter modestly positive, while Large Cap Core and Growth struggled under Technology weakness, April delivered a powerful “risk-on” rally led once again by AI enthusiasm and mega-cap technology stocks. The S&P 500 ETF has advanced 12.4% with the Nasdaq 100 ETF rising more than 20%, while mid-cap stocks struggled to keep up, rising only 7.6%. Strong earnings helped fuel the move, with more than 84% of S&P 500 companies reporting through late April exceeding EPS estimates. Yet the rally was still highly concentrated: the S&P 500 equal-weight index rose less than 6%, underscoring how much market leadership continued to depend on AI-related mega-cap winners.