These Stocks Lead Dow Jones In February. Hint: It's Not AI Companies.

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These Stocks Lead Dow Jones In February. Hint: It's Not AI Companies. Licensing

• JUAN CARLOS ARANCIBIA
• 04:30 PM ET 02/27/2026

Move aside, Microsoft (MSFT) and other tech heavyweights. February was a month for defensive stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Verizon Communications (VZ) and drug companies Merck (MRK), Amgen (AMGN) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) climbed 9% or more. As technology, financial and consumer discretionary sectors struggle this year, investors have shifted to an odd mix of economically sensitive…

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