Here are the worst (and best) performing stocks of August and for 2022 Last Updated: Aug. 31, 2022 at 10:14 a.m. ET First Published: Aug. 31, 2022 at 10:13 a.m. ET
By
Philip van Doorn
0
U.S. stocks reversed gains from July, led by technology companies
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Referenced Symbols
SPX
0.12%
DJIA
-0.01%
COMP
0.23%
NDX
0.25%
AAPL
0.30%
MSFT
0.58%
AMZN
-0.22%
TSLA
-0.45%
GOOG
0.75%
GOOGL
0.72%
CL00
-0.73%
NFLX
2.87%
META
4.53%
MTCH
0.76%
PYPL
2.66%
NVDA
-1.84%
SEDG
-0.00%
BALL
-0.79%
DXC
1.37%
CTLT
-0.71%
CRL
0.04%
FTNT
-0.14%
WAT
-0.40%
GNRC
-0.35%
MRNA
-1.63%
EPAM
-0.22%
CEG
2.45%
CAH
1.12%
NLSN
0.05%
AES
0.26%
COP
1.18%
DVN
1.76%
PFG
0.25%
ALB
-0.66%
CF
-1.15%
EXC
0.78%
ALGN
-0.20%
CZR
0.67%
SWK
-0.57%
ETSY
-0.09%
CCL
-1.79%
ZBRA
-0.67%
OXY
0.14%
HES
0.78%
CTRA
1.56%
MPC
1.21%
XOM
0.46%
VLO
0.65%
ENPH
-0.07%
MRO
1.68%
BRK.B
-0.32%
After a strong showing in July, when stock indexes rebounded from their 2022 lows of June, U.S. equities abruptly reversed course in August.
Here’s the damage:
| Index | Price change – July 29 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2022 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2021 | | S&P 500 SPX, 0.12% | -3.5% | -16.4% | 26.9% | | Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.01% | -3.2% | -12.5% | 18.7% | | Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, 0.23% | -4.1% | -24.0% | 21.4% | | Nasdaq-100 Index NDX, 0.25% | -4.7% | -24.4% | 26.6% | | Source: FactSet | All price changes in this article exclude dividends.
The S&P 500’s SPX, 0.12% market capitalization has declined by $6.76 trillion this year to $33.59 trillion. Market caps for the largest five companies in the benchmark index (Apple Inc. AAPL, 0.30%, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, 0.58%, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -0.22%, Tesla Inc. TSLA, -0.45% and Alphabet Inc. GOOG, 0.75% GOOGL, 0.72% ) have dropped by a combined $1.95 trillion.
Here’s how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 have performed during August and for 2022 so far. Forward price-to-earnings ratios are also included for three dates, based on rolling forward 12-month earnings-per-share estimates among analysts polled by FactSet:
| Index | Price change – July 29 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2022 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2021 | Forward P/E | Forward P/E – July 29 | Forward P/E – Dec. 31 | | Energy | 3.2% | 46.1% | 47.7% | 9.2 | 8.7 | 11.0 | | Utilities | 0.8% | 4.1% | 14.0% | 20.7 | 20.3 | 20.8 | | Consumer Staples | -1.3% | -5.1% | 15.6% | 20.7 | 20.9 | 21.8 | | Financials | -1.3% | -15.0% | 32.5% | 11.8 | 12.0 | 14.7 | | Industrials | -2.2% | -11.7% | 19.4% | 17.3 | 17.7 | 20.6 | | Materials | -2.5% | -15.9% | 25.0% | 13.7 | 13.8 | 17.0 | | Consumer Discretionary | -3.7% | -23.4% | 23.7% | 27.2 | 28.3 | 33.0 | | Communication Services | -4.2% | -31.0% | 20.5% | 15.8 | 16.2 | 20.9 | | Health Care | -5.3% | -11.2% | 24.2% | 15.7 | 16.5 | 17.2 | | Information Technology | -5.3% | -21.9% | 33.4% | 21.3 | 22.1 | 28.1 | | Real Estate | -5.4% | -19.2% | 42.5% | 18.5 | 19.4 | 24.2 | | S&P 500 | -3.5% | -16.4% | 26.9% | 17.2 | 17.6 | 21.5 | | Source: FactSet | The energy sector has been strongest during August, rising 3.2%, even as continuous front-month contract prices for West Texas Intermediate crude CL00, -0.73% oil declined 7% from the end of July to $91.64 on Aug. 30. This sector remains the cheapest on a forward P/E basis.
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While oil prices pulled back in August, the U.S. energy industry had a banner second-quarter earnings season. Looking further ahead, those results led to a 12% increase in the S&P 500 energy sector’s consensus earnings-per-share estimate for 2023.
Year-to-date, the communications services sector has been the worst performer. Bear in mind that several of this sector’s worst stocks of 2022 are actually tech-oriented, including Netflix Inc. NFLX, 2.87%, the biggest loser among the S&P 500 this year with a 63% decline through Aug. 30. The communications sector also includes Meta Platforms Inc. META, 4.53% (Facebook’s holding company), whose stock has fallen 53% this year, and Match Group Inc. MTCH, 0.76%, down 57% for 2022, including a 23% decline in August.
Within the information technology sector, two of this year’s worst performers have been PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL, 2.66%, down 51%, and Nvidia Corp. NVDA, -1.84%, which is down 47%. Nvidia is the largest semiconductor company in the S&P 500, with a market cap of $386.7 billion. The company’s value has declined by an astounding 348.6 billion this year.
Citigroup analyst Christopher Danley warned on Tuesday that semiconductor stocks could drop another 25% as they enter “the worst downturn in a decade.”
The S&P 500’s worst and best performers Here are four lists of the S&P 500’s worst and best performers for August and for 2022:
Worst-performing S&P 500 stocks in August | Company | Ticker | Price change – July 29 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2022 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2021 | | SolarEdge Technologies Inc. | SEDG, -0.39% | -23.5% | -1.8% | -12.1% | | Match Group Inc. | MTCH, 0.76% | -23.0% | -57.3% | -12.5% | | Ball Corp. | BALL, -0.79% | -22.6% | -41.0% | 3.3% | | DXC Technology Co. | DXC, 1.37% | -22.4% | -23.9% | 25.0% | | Catalent Inc. | CTLT, -0.71% | -21.1% | -30.3% | 23.0% | | Charles River Laboratories International Inc. | CRL, 0.04% | -18.0% | -45.5% | 50.8% | | Fortinet Inc. | FTNT, -0.14% | -17.8% | -31.8% | 142.0% | | Waters Corp. | WAT, -0.40% | -17.8% | -19.6% | 50.6% | | Generac Holdings Inc. | GNRC, -0.35% | -17.3% | -36.9% | 54.8% | | Moderna Inc. | MRNA, -1.63% | -17.2% | -46.5% | 143.1% | | Source: FactSet | Click on the tickers for more about each company. You should also read Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on MarketWatch quote pages.
Best-performing S&P 500 stocks in August | Company | Ticker | Price change – July 29 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2022 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2021 | | EPAM Systems Inc. | EPAM, -0.22% | 21.6% | -36.5% | 86.5% | | Constellation Energy Corp. | CEG, 2.45% | 20.6% | N/A | N/A | | Cardinal Health Inc. | CAH, 1.12% | 17.3% | 35.6% | -3.9% | | Nielsen Holdings Plc | NLSN, 0.05% | 16.3% | 35.8% | -1.7% | | AES Corp. | AES, 0.26% | 14.5% | 4.7% | 3.4% | | ConocoPhillips | COP, 1.18% | 13.4% | 53.1% | 80.5% | | Devon Energy Corp. | DVN, 1.76% | 13.1% | 61.4% | 178.6% | | Principal Financial Group Inc. | PFG, 0.25% | 12.5% | 4.1% | 45.8% | | Albemarle Corp. | ALB, -0.66% | 11.6% | 16.7% | 58.5% | | CF Industries Holdings Inc. | CF, -1.15% | 11.0% | 49.8% | 82.8% | | Source: FactSet | Constellation Energy Corp. CEG, 2.45% was split off from Elexon Corp. EXC, 0.78% in January.
Worst-performing S&P 500 stocks of 2022 | Company | Ticker | Price change – July 29 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2022 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2021 | | Netflix Inc. | NFLX, 2.87% | -1.9% | -63.4% | 11.4% | | Align Technology Inc. | ALGN, -0.20% | -12.2% | -62.5% | 23.0% | | Match Group Inc. | MTCH, 0.76% | -23.0% | -57.3% | -12.5% | | Caesars Entertainment Inc. | CZR, 0.67% | -5.4% | -53.8% | 25.9% | | Meta Platforms Inc. Class A | META, 4.53% | -1.2% | -53.3% | 23.1% | | Stanley Black & Decker Inc. | SWK, -0.57% | -8.5% | -52.8% | 5.6% | | Etsy Inc. | ETSY, -0.09% | 2.0% | -51.7% | 23.1% | | Carnival Corp. | CCL, -1.79% | 7.8% | -51.4% | -7.1% | | PayPal Holdings Inc. | PYPL, 2.66% | 6.1% | -51.3% | -19.5% | | Zebra Technologies Corp. Class A | ZBRA, -0.67% | -15.3% | -49.1% | 54.9% | | Source: FactSet | Best-performing S&P 500 stocks of 2022 | Company | Ticker | Price change – July 29 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2022 through Aug. 30 | Price change – 2021 | | Occidental Petroleum Corp. | OXY, 0.14% | 9.5% | 148.4% | 67.5% | | Hess Corp. | HES, 0.78% | 8.6% | 65.0% | 40.2% | | Devon Energy Corp. | DVN, 1.76% | 13.1% | 61.4% | 178.6% | | Coterra Energy Inc. | CTRA, 1.56% | -0.6% | 60.0% | 16.7% | | Marathon Petroleum Corp. | MPC, 1.21% | 10.7% | 58.6% | 54.7% | | Exxon Mobil Corp. | XOM, 0.46% | -0.6% | 57.4% | 48.4% | | Valero Energy Corp. | VLO, 0.65% | 6.6% | 57.1% | 32.8% | | Enphase Energy Inc. | ENPH, -0.07% | 0.6% | 56.2% | 4.3% | | Marathon Oil Corp. | MRO, 1.68% | 3.1% | 55.8% | 146.2% | | ConocoPhillips | COP, 1.18% | 13.4% | 53.1% | 80.5% | | Source: FactSet | Under the leadership of CEO Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. BRK.B, -0.32% has loaded up on shares of Occidental Petroleum Corp. this year. Here’s a look at the investment moves Berkshire made during the second quarter. |
