By Doug Busch
Communication services has been one of the most consistent major S&P 500 sectors in 2025, ranking in the top three on one-month, six-month, and year to date performance metrics.
The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund is up a solid 17% this year, powered in large part by Alphabet. The stock has surged 127% off its early-April lows, rising in 24 of the last 33 weeks, and is today flirting with a $4 trillion market capitalization. It finished decisively above the round $300 level after three prior intraday attempts failed to hold. Last week's breakout above a $290 bull-flag pivot sets up a potential move toward $345 by year-end.
Meta Platforms, by contrast, is on a four-week losing streak, with each weekly close well into the lower half of its weekly range and on above-average volume. The slide began with a 12% drop in the final week of October, its second-largest weekly decline in three years.
Against that backdrop, here are three names that could help the sector extend its momentum into the year-end.
Reddit, a social-media platform, is up 20% year to date but still trades 31% below its 52-week high following a bearish shooting-star candle on Sept. 18. The stock has fallen eight of the past nine weeks, though it jumped 6% on Monday to finish right at the 21-day exponential moving average. Bulls will want to see the stock reclaim that level decisively this week. One caution is the 200-day simple moving average has begun to roll over, though the bullish view holds unless shares break below the $175 area.
There are constructive signs. The stock recently retested its cup-with-handle breakout above a $164.65 pivot from Aug. 1, confirmed by a bullish piercing-line pattern on Nov. 7. Monday also completed a bullish morning-star formation after a 100-point, 10-week decline. Enter at $192 and add above a double-bottom pivot at $231.07. A move toward $375 by year-end 2026 remains achievable.
Reddit was trading around $207 Tuesday.
Netflix, a top-five holding in the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund, is up 20% year to date but has shown little consistency, with its last three-week winning streak occurring in May. The stock has struggled since slipping below the 21-day exponential moving average shortly after a bearish evening star formed on July 1. Adding pressure, a death cross appeared last week as the 21-day undercut the 200-day simple moving average.
Still, there are constructive signs. On Monday the stock posted a bullish engulfing candle just above the round $100 level, which also marks a retest of a split-adjusted double-bottom breakout at $99.97 from April 22. Look to enter at $104 and add above the next double-bottom pivot at $124.96. The setup remains constructive as long as shares hold above $97.
Netflix was trading around $104 Tuesday.
Millicom International, a telecommunications and media company operating primarily in Latin America, has surged 114% year to date and offers a 5.6% dividend yield. Notably, the stock never lost contact with its 21-day exponential moving average during the recent bout of market volatility, a rare show of relative strength. After a sharp advance from January through August, Millicom has spent the past three months digesting gains, repeatedly shrugging off bearish candlestick signals. It ignored doji candles on Sept. 3 and Oct. 28, each the middle session of bearish evening star patterns, near the very round $50 level.
That former resistance now looks poised to become support following the Nov. 17 cup-base breakout above a $50.88 pivot. Enter at $53 and target a move toward $65 by early 2026. Maintain a bullish stance above $48.
Millicom International was trading around $54 Tuesday.
Doug Busch is the senior technical analyst at Barron's Investor Circle . His technical view is added to stock picks, including those published exclusively for Investor Circle readers. A glossary of technical terms is updated regularly with new entries.
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 25, 2025 11:20 ET (16:20 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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