It's been a bad year for most S&P 500 investors. But it's been a disaster for those who owned the biggest turkeys.
So far this year, 12 stocks in the S&P 500 are the biggest turkeys of the year, including Generac Holdings, Align Technology and Meta Platforms, having plunged more than 55%, says and Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSmith. Such losses stand out even in a bad year for the S&P 500. The S&P 500 is "only" down 17% this year.
And yet, S&P 500 investors might be thankful if these giant stock drops mark the worst. "As we approach the holiday-shortened Thanksgiving week, investors might now be relying on favorable historical seasonal trends for encouragement, since the S&P 500 rose in price in two out of every three holiday-shortened Thanksgiving weeks since World War II and continued to advance nearly three out of every four times through the end of the year," said Sam Stovall of CFRA.
But for now, there are plenty of losses to go around.
Plump Losses So Far
If you're looking for the biggest turkey in the S&P 500, it's somewhat surprising where they're from.
Shares of well-run generator maker, Generac is the worst place you could have put your money among all the stocks in the S&P 500. Shares are down more than 70% this year. That collapse in the share price erased nearly $16 billion in market value. What's the problem? After churning out profit growth for years, the company's bottom line is seen hitting the wall this year. Adjusted profit per share is expected to drop more than 11% this fiscal year.
But Generac has tough competition for being the year's worst stock in the S&P 500. Closely behind it is Align Technology, maker of technology to straighten teeth. Shares are also off more than 70% this year. And as is the case with Generac, analysts think the company's multiyear run of boosting profit or at least holding it steady, adjusted profit will sag by more than 36% this year.
Meta Gets A Break In The S&P 500
Mark Zuckerberg must be at least a little relieved to see other S&P 500 stocks crater. Until recently, his Meta Platforms was the worst stock in the S&P 500 on a percentage-change basis this year. Meta Platforms is bad, but not the worst in the S&P 500 anymore.
Shares of the communication services stock is down 67% this year. That ranks it the fifth-worst stock in the S&P 500 this year. The plunge, due to the company's costly pivot to virtual reality, has shaved off $643.9 billion in market value from the company this year. Amazingly, that's not the largest loss in market value this year, either. The head of the table when it comes to losing market value this year goes to Amazon.com. Shares of the online retailer are off more than 44% this year as investors brace for the online retailing giant to lose money this year.
So if you didn't own these stocks this year, you at least have that to be thankful for.
Stock Turkeys Of 2022
Worst stocks in the S&P 500 on a percentage basis this year
| Company | Ticker | % ch. | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generac Holdings | -70.9% | Industrials | |
| Align Technology | -70.8 | Health Care | |
| SVB Financial | -68.3 | Financials | |
| Catalent | -67.3 | Health Care | |
| Meta Platforms | -67.3 | Communication Services | |
| Match Group | -64.5 | Communication Services | |
| Signature Bank | -59.2 | Financials | |
| Stanley Black & Decker | -57.2 | Industrials | |
| Zebra Technologies | -56.8 | Information Technology | |
| PayPal Holdings | -57.2 | Information Technology | |
| V.F. | -55.8 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| Warner Bros. Discovery | -55.1 | Communication Services |
Sources: S&P Global Market Intelligence, IBD
Follow Matt Krantz on Twitter @mattkrantz
