European equities display a pronounced split in performance over the past 12 months, according to BofA Global Research’s European Snapshot. Of the 250 largest companies listed in Europe, a handful of materials and defense names have recorded exceptional returns while several consumer staples and healthcare-related firms have seen substantial declines.
Leading the gainers is Fresnillo, which rose 436.4% to 37.0p. It is followed by Nebius, up 202.2% to $85.2, and Endeavour Mining, which climbed 171.7% to 42.2p. The rally among materials and defense-related groups is notable - Rheinmetall jumped 154.0% to 1,781.5 and Siemens Energy advanced 139% to 144.6.
Financial stocks also dominate the top of the leaderboard. Société Générale surged 153.0% to 73.8, Commerzbank gained 129.6% to 34.7, Banco Santander added 125.6% to 10.8, and BBVA rose 112.1% to 21.5. A broader set of banks - ABN AMRO, CaixaBank, Deutsche Bank, Bank of Ireland, Bankinter, Standard Chartered, UniCredit, Lloyds Banking, and Prudential - recorded gains in a range roughly between 79% and 100% over the same period.
Defense-oriented names show sustained investor interest amid elevated geopolitical concerns. Swedens Saab climbed 130.0% to SEK 693.3. Rolls-Royce added 102.3% to 12.1p and Leonardo gained 89.6% to 56.3, underscoring the sector-wide strength.
At the other extreme, several large-cap European companies have declined sharply. Novo Nordisk was the weakest among the large equities, shedding 47.9% to DKK 369.6. Wolters Kluwer fell 44.9% to 78.9, Diageo dropped 36.8% to 16.8p, and Pernod Ricard declined 32.9% to 75.1.
Other notable falls include Orsted, down 32.1% to DKK 141.6; Coloplast, off 30.5% to DKK 536.0; and Sonova, down 30.1% to CHF 211.5. Switzerland-listed names figure prominently among the underperformers: DSM-Firmenich is off 29.6% to 66.2; Sika is down 24.7% to CHF 148.3; Givaudan has lost 20.7% to CHF 2,988; Partners Group is down 20.1% to CHF 1,050; Straumann fell 18.2% to CHF 93.1; and Alcon shed 17.7% to CHF 62.4.
Frances Dassault Systmes declined 28.8% to 23.2, while Germanys Adidas fell 28.6% to 149.2. Stellantis dropped 24.9% to $8.3 and Ferrari lost 22.7% to $280.8.
The divergence between winners and losers tracks broader market dynamics observed in February. Commodities-exposed stocks gained 3.3% month-to-date on a relative basis, while US-exposed stocks lost 1.7%, per the same BofA report. Discretionary names were the weakest sector in Q1 2026, declining 12.1% and trailing their historical average by 13.4 percentage points. Utilities were the strongest sector, rising 7.8% and running 9.6 percentage points above historical norms. At the country level, the Netherlands led with a 7.4% gain, putting it 6.2 points ahead of its historical trend.
Flows into the highest- and lowest-performing groups reveal investor preferences. The top-performing stocks attracted $1.67 billion in fund inflows during the month, split between $0.25 billion from active funds and $1.42 billion from passive vehicles. The lowest-performing cohort nevertheless drew $0.39 billion in net inflows, despite $0.07 billion of active outflows that were offset by $0.45 billion of passive buying.
Europe-focused equity funds have taken in $15.86 billion year-to-date, the strongest start to the year since 2015, driven entirely by passive flows of $21.60 billion while active funds experienced outflows totaling $5.74 billion. In the most recent week, net inflows reached $2.65 billion. At a sector and country level, Size stocks, Industrials and Switzerland recorded the largest inflows, while the UK and Risk stocks recorded outflows.
Market-structure indicators show a note of caution. BofAs European Momentum Conviction Indicator stood at 32 as of Feb. 19 - just above the 30 threshold that the bank identifies as a signal of elevated crash risk - and is its weakest reading since November 2025.
Overall, the BofA snapshot paints a market polarized between cyclically exposed winners and consumer- and healthcare-related laggards, with passive fund flows heavily concentrated in the positive performers and broader momentum metrics signalling a slightly heightened risk environment.