Russell 2000 Posts Best First Half Since 1991, Beats S&P 500 by 12 Points in Sharpest Small-Cap Revival in Decades
- The Russell 2000 is up roughly 20–22% year-to-date through July 3, its strongest first-half performance since 1991 and its biggest six-month outperformance versus the S&P 500 (+9.6%) since 2001; the Nasdaq is up ~12% over the same span.
- The rally has been driven largely by AI infrastructure spillover — 16 of the index's 50 best 2026 performers are semiconductor-related, including Aehr Test, Ichor Holdings and MaxLinear, all up more than 400% — though Goldman strategist Ben Snider warns the Russell's June reconstitution halved the AI-infrastructure weight to 7% and still sees only 'low single-digit' returns over the next 12 months.
- Roughly 30% of Russell 2000 debt is floating-rate (vs. 7% for the S&P 500), leaving the index especially exposed to Fed tightening; about a quarter of constituents remain unprofitable, per the WSJ and Bloomberg coverage.