The TSX Composite Index has jumped by a strong 18.3% so far in 2024, making this a great year for Canadian investors. While most discussions about the market's top performers tend to focus on the absolute biggest gainers, I want to take a slightly different approach in this article. Instead of simply looking at the top of the leaderboard, I'll highlight two of the top 10 performers, CI Financial (TSX:CIX) and Aritzia (TSX:ATZ). These two standout stocks not only shone in 2024 but also have the potential to deliver strong returns in the years to come, in my opinion, based on their solid fundamentals and long-term outlook.

Let's dive into why CI Financial and Aritzia have been two of the TSX's best-performing stocks this year and why they could still deliver strong returns in 2025 and beyond.

CI Financial stock

CI Financial stock has more than doubled in value so far in 2024, currently trading with 108% year-to-date gains at $30.91 per share with a market cap of $4.5 billion. These gains make CIX the best-performing TSX stock of 2024 from the financial sector.

This impressive run in its share price can be attributed to several key fundamental factors. For starters, the company achieved a record $518.1 billion in total assets as of September 30, up nearly 23% YoY (year over year). Despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment, this growth clearly reflects CI's ability to navigate market challenges while capitalizing on its diversified wealth and asset management business.

In the third quarter, CI's total revenue jumped 27.4% from a year ago due to the strong performance of its U.S. wealth management business. Higher revenue, along with its continued focus on cost-control measures, helped the company post a strong 19.8% YoY increase in adjusted quarterly earnings to $0.97 per share, beating Street analyst expectations of $0.89 per share.

As CI Financial continues to expand its footprint in high-growth markets and deliver robust financial results, its stock could sustain strong momentum in the years to come. Besides that, its annualized dividend yield of 2.6% makes CIX stock even more appealing for long-term income-focused investors.

Aritzia stock

Aritzia is currently 2024's best-performing TSX stock from the retail sector, with its shares soaring 95.3% year-to-date to $53.72 per share, giving the company a market cap of $6.1 billion.

In the most recent reported quarter (ended in September 2024), Aritzia posted a 15.3% YoY rise in total revenue to $615.7 million. Despite a softer consumer spending environment, an increase in its revenue was mainly driven by its U.S. operations, which saw a remarkable 23.9% YoY jump in sales to $345.4 million. With this, the U.S. market accounted for more than half of its total quarterly sales.

On the profitability side, lower markdowns and improved inventory management also helped Aritzia deliver an expanded gross profit margin of 40.2% last quarter compared to 35% a year ago. Besides its consistently increasing sales in the high-demand U.S. market, the company's plans to launch an enhanced website and open new boutiques could continue to drive stronger financial growth in the coming years and drive its share prices even higher.