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Building on the launch of the inaugural S&P Thematics Dashboard, the July edition analyzes the monthly performance of a broad set of themes to uncover key market dynamics. Designed as a thematic market lens, the dashboard—developed in collaboration with Theia Insights—offers rich perspectives on market performance by leveraging nearly 200 themes shaping the global economy. It highlights top- and bottom-performing themes, integrates macro and sentiment indicators and delivers multi-lens insights across regions, sectors, megatrends and factors.

This month’s thematic performance was shaped by AI-driven infrastructure demand, renewed investor enthusiasm for precision health technologies and sustained momentum in the energy transition space. In contrast, traditional healthcare segments (e.g., Healthcare Insurance) and consumer-linked themes underperformed. Additionally, recent legislation related to the crypto sector fueled investor optimism across much of the crypto ecosystem—particularly within the Stablecoins theme.

Infrastructure of Intelligence: AI Push Fuels Computing Demand

At the top of the leaderboard, Data Centers & High-Performance Computing posted a standout 13.40% monthly return, adding to its YTD surge (up 32.06%). Meta and Google’s multi-billion-dollar commitments to AI infrastructure, referred to as “AI factories,” were received positively by the markets. Their revenues showed gains partly due to this significant capital expenditure. Limited access to reliable power and grid capacity for energy-intensive AI infrastructure, once a critical bottleneck, is now being actively addressed through a wave of investment in nuclear energy and renewable-plus-storage solutions. These themes also delivered strong returns in July, as outlined later in the document.

Adjacent AI infrastructure sectors also benefited, with Optical Communications & Optoelectronics rising 10.65% to deliver strong double-digit returns, driven by record-setting breakthroughs in data transmission speeds and silicon photonics integration.

Healthcare Divide: Innovation Outperforms while Services Falter

A sharp divergence defined the healthcare space.

On one end, innovation-led biotech themes gained meaningful traction.

• Cannabis & Psychedelics rose 13.23%, helped by clinical data validating psilocybin’s therapeutic potential and regulatory progress in Europe.
• Genomics & Gene Editing gained 11.59%, as breakthroughs in AI-enabled gene diagnostics and newborn genome screening expanded the sector’s relevance.
• Cancer Therapy also performed strongly, rising 10.36%, buoyed by developments in precision medicine.

In contrast, Health Insurance recorded the steepest decline, at –10.71%. Growing concern over rising costs for insurers and regulatory scrutiny, weighed heavily on traditional healthcare companies. The Pharmacy theme also decreased 9.92%, as falling reimbursement rates, inflation, softer consumer spending and rising competition continue to squeeze margins.

Energy Storage and “Old” Fuel Find New Purpose

Batteries & Energy Storage gained 11.61%, continuing a four-month streak of positive returns. The surge was fueled by accelerating grid-scale storage deployments, particularly those utilizing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which supported lithium demand while reducing reliance on more expensive nickel and cobalt chemistries. This dynamic favored companies operating across the value chain, from lithium producers to residential and utility-scale integrators.

Coal’s 9.12% rise marked an interesting shift, underpinned by supportive policy dynamics and news of potential curbs on Chinese coal production. Nuclear Energy (up 6.72%) and Wind Energy (up 7.47%) also saw solid performance, suggesting broad investor interest across the traditional-renewable spectrum to achieve energy transition goals.

Solar Energy, however, lagged at 5.10%, pointing to investor caution amid policy uncertainty and a slowdown in new utility-scale installations following the rollback of clean energy subsidies.

Stablecoins Go Mainstream: The Corporate Adoption Wave

Fueled by landmark regulation, notably the U.S. GENIUS Act, the stablecoin market—expected to grow beyond USD 190 billion—is shifting from speculative assets to an essential backbone of the crypto economy. Global corporations are evaluating stablecoin payment integrations to streamline costs and enhance international settlements, particularly in emerging economies.

In parallel, Europe’s MiCA regulation is unlocking stablecoin activity across the continent, offering legal clarity for euro-denominated tokens and driving participation from traditional financial institutions. Major banks are piloting stablecoin issuance, custody and trading services to modernize payments and reduce reliance on legacy rails.

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