The stock market has been volatile over the past month. Since the monthly meeting in December, there has been a steady stream of news from Washington, including a surprise U.S. military operation in Venezuela and threats of tariffs related to Greenland. President Donald Trump said in an interview with CNBC in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday that he had reached a “notion of an agreement” on Greenland and reversed tariffs on Europe. President Trump also said Venezuela would receive some revenue from the sale of the 50 million barrels of oil it shipped to the United States. From Dec. 15 to Wednesday’s close, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively. Qnity Electronics, Boeing, and Texas Roadhouse have been our best-performing stocks over time. Each comfortably outperformed the market, securing double-digit percentage returns. Here, we take a look at what drove the best and worst three of Apple, CrowdStrike, and Salesforce ahead of the club’s January meeting, which will be livestreamed Thursday at noon ET. Top 3 Qnity Electronics: Up 30.1% The DuPont spinoff, which supplies materials for semiconductor manufacturing, soared amid strength across the chipmaking sector. Earlier this month, a solid quarterly earnings report from semiconductor manufacturing giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. particularly boosted stock prices. TSMC management said it is increasing its capital budget due to strong demand. Investors saw this as positive information for supply chain players like Qnity. Positive sentiment on Qnity from several Wall Street analysts also boosted sentiment. Boeing: Up 22.6% Shares soared on positive signs of demand for the U.S. company’s aircraft, hitting a new 52-week high on Wednesday. Boeing on Tuesday announced further orders with Ethiopian Airlines. The bulk of Boeing’s monthly profit came on the heels of last week’s news that it will outsell European rival Airbus in 2025 for the first time since 2018. Alaska Airlines’ order for more than 100 Boeing jets earlier this month also propelled the company to the top. Texas Roadhouse: Up 14.1% Restaurant stocks are off to a strong start in 2026. Investors are hoping for a better year thanks to higher consumer spending due to tax refund-related stimulus. This follows a disappointing 2025 for Texas Roadhouse, where cattle inflation weighed on the company’s profits. The club significantly downgraded our position on January 12th. We expect the stock to rise further, but only if the company succeeds in lowering beef prices. Bottom 3: Salesforce: -15.5% It’s no surprise that this was our worst performer. Enterprise software stocks like Salesforce continued to suffer as markets struggled with the risk of AI disruption. This new technology could pose an existential threat to Salesforce’s seat-based business model, as AI reduces the number of employees and requires fewer software licenses. CEO Marc Benioff has repeatedly pushed back on this idea, saying AI will enhance the company’s software platform. We’re sticking with this stock for now based on Benioff’s track record as a leader. CrowdStrike: Down 11.7% Shares fell earlier this month after Chinese authorities reportedly banned domestic companies from using CrowdStrike’s cybersecurity software, citing national security concerns. The list included several other American companies, including Palo Alto Networks and Broadcom’s VMware. It doesn’t change our case for these stocks. We like CrowdStrike’s recent acquisition of identity management startup SGNL for $740 million. This will give the company a stronger foothold in one of the fastest growing segments in the sector. Apple: Down 11% The stock heads for its eighth week of declines on concerns about rising memory costs and turnover among mega-cap tech stocks. This decline is unwarranted as Apple recently announced a promising AI partnership with the same club that owns Alphabet. The iPhone maker plans to use Google’s Gemini for some of its AI capabilities, which should alleviate Wall Street’s concerns. Jim Cramer said Tuesday that the drop has given new investors a chance to get into the stock. “This is a great opportunity to understand that by making a deal with Gemini, they happen to have the best AI,” he said of Apple. “They ended up being the winners here.” (For a complete list of Jim Cramer Charitable Trust stocks, see here.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you’ll receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. After Jim sends a trade alert, he waits 45 minutes before buying or selling stocks in his charitable trust’s portfolio. 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