The DAX index has started the year well, rising for five consecutive days and hovering near its highest level on record. It was trading at €20,320 on Friday, a few points below the all-time high of €20,520. So, these are the top companies boosting the German DAX 40 index in 2025.
Commerzbank
Commerzbank, one of the best-performing companies in the DAX index in 2024, is also doing well this year as it rose by over 6%. It has jumped by almost 50% in the last 12 months, making it one of the best-performing bank stocks in Europe.
Commerzbank’s stock sits at its highest level since 2011. This performance is primarily because of the rising hope that it may become an acquisition target by Unicredit, a large Italian bank. It has now become the biggest shareholder, and the CEO has hinted that he might make a complete bid for the bank.
Analysts expect that Unicredit may make the bid after the February election in Germany that may see new leaders elected.
Daimler Truck Holding
Daimler Truck Holding is another good-performing DAX index constituent this year as it jumped by 6% and by 21% in the last 12 months. Its performance happened even as the company halted selling trucks in Oregon, citing a dispute on clean truck credits.
Daimler and other truckmakers are attempting to bounce back after retreating in 2024 as demand waned. The global economy is expected to recover, helped by low interest rates, which will lead to more truck and bus sales.
The most recent results showed that Daimler Truck’s sales dropped by 11% in Q3 to 114 billion euros, while its net profit fell by 34% to 627 million.
Sartorius
Sartorius is another top-performing company in the DAX index as its stock jumped by over 8%. This rebound is part of the recovery as the shares have plunged by over 20% in the past 12 months.
For starters, Sartorius is a German healthcare manufacturing company. It makes products mostly found in labs like process chromatography, bioreactors, biolayer interferometry, and electronic pipettes.
Sartorius stock has jumped as investors anticipate a recovery this year. That’s because its business has been slowing down in the past few years, with its 2023 sales falling by 16.6% to 3.4 billion euros. Its 2024 revenue is expected to be in the same level as last year, while its EBITDA will be between 27% and 29%.
Rheinmetall
Rheinmetall has also become another top gainer in the DAX index, increasing by over 5%. This recovery is mostly due to investors’ anticipation of more defense spending during Donald Trump’s term. He has already called for countries to raise their defense spending to 5% of the GDP.
The company also benefits as demand for defense equipment as global tensions are expected to rise in the next few years.
Some of the other top performers in the DAX index are Hannover, Deutsche Bank, and Siemens AG. on the other hand, the top laggards in the index are companies like BMW, Symrise, EON, Vonovia, and Zalando.
To be clear: it is still too early to determine whether these top-performing companies will continue their bullish momentum this year. In the past, some of the top gainers in the first week of January tend to underperform during the year.
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