The euphoria of January reversed this month, with broad declines for stocks across the board as interest rates continued to rise. Bond interest rates are more attractive than they have been for decades, and investors’ increasing confidence that the Federal Reserve will prolong its rate increases to fight inflation has brought similar pressures to the stock market to those we saw last year.
Read: Fed’s Jefferson doesn’t support raising central bank’s 2% inflation target
That said, some of the stocks that were hit hardest during 2022 have continued to bounce back. For example, Tesla Inc.
TSLA
shares have risen 20% this month and are now up 61% for 2023, following their 65% plunge last year. Similarly, shares of Nvidia Corp.
NVDA
are up 20% this month and up 61% for this year, following a 50% decline in 2022.
Below is a list of February’s worst- and best-performing stocks.
Stocks were mixed in early trading on Feb. 28, with the S&P 500
SPX
down slightly for the session and down 2.4% for the month. (All price changes in this article exclude dividends.)
Here’s how the 11 sectors of the benchmark index have fared, through 10 a.m. Eastern time on Feb. 28:
| S&P 500 sector | February price change | 2023 price change | 2022 price change |
| Energy | -6.6% | -4.1% | 59.0% |
| Utilities | -5.8% | -7.7% | -1.4% |
| Real estate | -5.8% | 3.5% | -28.4% |
| Healthcare | -4.5% | -6.4% | -3.6% |
| Communication services | -4.3% | 9.3% | -40.4% |
| Materials | -3.6% | 5.1% | -14.1% |
| Financials | -2.4% | 4.1% | -12.4% |
| Consumer staples | -2.3% | -3.3% | -3.2% |
| Consumer discretionary | -2.2% | 12.5% | -37.6% |
| Industrials | -1.1% | 2.6% | -7.1% |
| Information technology | 0.5% | 9.8% | -28.9% |
| S&P 500 | -2.4% | 3.6% | -19.4% |
| Source: FactSet | |||
The energy sector has been the worst performer of February, while the information technology sector has been the only one to show a gain.
Among the S&P 500, 76% of stocks have shown declines during February.
Here are the 20 worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 for the month, through Feb. 28 at 10 a.m. Eastern time:
| Company | Ticker | February price change | 2023 price change | 2022 price change |
| Lumen Technologies Inc. | LUMN | -34.8% | -34.4% | -58.4% |
| Match Group Inc. | MTCH | -23.3% | 0.0% | -68.6% |
| Moderna Inc. | MRNA | -21.1% | -22.7% | -29.3% |
| VF Corp. | VFC | -20.7% | -11.1% | -62.3% |
| WestRock Co. | WRK | -19.3% | -10.0% | -20.7% |
| Dish Network Corp. Class A | DISH | -18.1% | -16.0% | -56.7% |
| Akamai Technologies Inc. | AKAM | -17.7% | -13.2% | -28.0% |
| Newmont Corp. | NEM | -17.7% | -7.7% | -23.9% |
| Organon & Co. | OGN | -16.9% | -10.3% | -8.3% |
| International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. | IFF | -16.7% | -10.6% | -30.4% |
| Domino’s Pizza Inc. | DPZ | -16.3% | -14.7% | -38.6% |
| News Corp. Class A | NWSA | -14.6% | -4.9% | -18.4% |
| Fidelity National Information Services Inc. | FIS | -14.0% | -4.9% | -37.8% |
| Electronic Arts Inc. | EA | -13.8% | -9.2% | -7.4% |
| Devon Energy Corp. | DVN | -13.8% | -11.4% | 39.6% |
| Gen Digital Inc. | GEN | -13.5% | -7.1% | -17.5% |
| EOG Resources Inc. | EOG | -13.4% | -11.5% | 45.8% |
| Baxter International Inc. | BAX | -13.2% | -22.2% | -40.6% |
| ConocoPhillips | COP | -13.2% | -10.3% | 63.5% |
| Mohawk Industries Inc. | MHK | -13.1% | 2.0% | -43.9% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
Click on the tickers for more about each company, including news, earnings and corporate profiles.
Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page.
To accentuate the positive, here are the 10 best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 during February:
| Company | Ticker | February price change | 2023 price change | 2022 price change |
| Catalent Inc. | CTLT | 26.7% | 50.7% | -64.8% |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA | 20.2% | 60.7% | -50.3% |
| Tesla Inc. | TSLA | 20.0% | 68.8% | -65.0% |
| West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. | WST | 19.0% | 34.3% | -49.8% |
| Meta Platforms Inc. Class A | META | 17.9% | 45.9% | -64.2% |
| Monolithic Power Systems Inc. | MPWR | 14.6% | 38.2% | -28.3% |
| W.W. Grainger Inc. | GWW | 14.5% | 21.4% | 7.3% |
| Fortinet Inc. | FTNT | 14.4% | 22.5% | -32.0% |
| Align Technology Inc. | ALGN | 14.4% | 46.3% | -67.9% |
| Ansys Inc. | ANSS | 13.0% | 24.6% | -39.8% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
The Dow 30
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
has pulled back 3.9% this month, though it is still up 3.6% for 2023. All but five of its 30 of its components are have declined in February:
| Company | Ticker | February price change | 2023 price change | 2022 price change |
| Intel Corp. | INTC | -11.9% | -5.8% | -48.7% |
| Home Depot Inc. | HD | -8.7% | -6.3% | -23.9% |
| Honeywell International Inc. | HON | -8.5% | -10.9% | 2.8% |
| Amgen Inc. | AMGN | -7.7% | -11.3% | 16.7% |
| Walt Disney Co. | DIS | -7.2% | 15.8% | -43.9% |
| Verizon Communications Inc. | VZ | -6.9% | -1.8% | -24.2% |
| Nike Inc. Class B | NKE | -6.7% | 1.5% | -29.8% |
| Chevron Corp. | CVX | -6.7% | -9.6% | 53.0% |
| Boeing Co. | BA | -5.9% | 5.2% | -5.4% |
| 3M Co. | MMM | -5.7% | -9.5% | -32.5% |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | -5.7% | -12.7% | 3.3% |
| Caterpillar Inc. | CAT | -4.8% | 0.2% | 15.9% |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. | UNH | -4.2% | -9.8% | 5.6% |
| Visa Inc. Class A | V | -4.2% | 6.2% | -4.1% |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. | WBA | -4.0% | -5.3% | -28.4% |
| Dow Inc. | DOW | -3.5% | 13.6% | -11.2% |
| International Business Machines Corp. | IBM | -3.4% | -7.6% | 5.4% |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | PG | -3.1% | -9.0% | -7.3% |
| Coca-Cola Co. | KO | -3.0% | -6.5% | 7.4% |
| Travelers Cos. | TRV | -2.9% | -1.0% | 19.9% |
| Salesforce Inc. | CRM | -2.8% | 23.2% | -47.8% |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | GS | -1.9% | 4.5% | -10.2% |
| Walmart Inc. | WMT | -1.5% | -0.1% | -2.0% |
| McDonald’s Corp. | MCD | -1.3% | 0.2% | -1.7% |
| American Express Co. | AXP | -0.2% | 18.1% | -9.7% |
| Cisco Systems Inc. | CSCO | 0.4% | 2.5% | -24.8% |
| Merck & Co. | MRK | 0.5% | -2.7% | 44.8% |
| Microsoft Corp. | MSFT | 1.0% | 4.3% | -28.7% |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | JPM | 2.0% | 6.5% | -15.3% |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL | 2.5% | 13.9% | -26.8% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
Nasdaq-100
The Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP
has fallen only 0.9% this month and is up 9.7% for 2023, following its 33% drubbing during 2022.
To take a closer look at Nasdaq components, let’s narrow the list down to the Nasdaq-100 Index
NDX,
which includes the 100 largest nonfinancial stocks, by market capitalization, in the full Nasdaq. It is tracked by the Invesco QQQ Trust
QQQ.
Here are the worst 10 February performers among the Nasdaq-100:
| Company | Ticker | February price change | 2023 price change | 2022 price change |
| Lucid Group Inc. | LCID | -24.4% | 29.4% | -82.0% |
| Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | SIRI | -23.5% | -24.1% | -8.0% |
| Moderna Inc. | MRNA | -21.2% | -22.8% | -29.3% |
| Electronic Arts Inc. | EA | -13.9% | -9.3% | -7.4% |
| Adobe Inc. | ADBE | -12.6% | -3.8% | -40.7% |
| Intel Corp. | INTC | -12.0% | -5.9% | -48.7% |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | VRTX | -11.0% | -0.4% | 31.5% |
| Constellation Energy Corp. | CEG | -9.9% | -10.8% | N/A |
| Amazon.com Inc. | AMZN | -9.5% | 11.1% | -49.6% |
| PayPal Holdings Inc. | PYPL | -9.4% | 3.7% | -62.2% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
And here are the best performers for the month among the Nasdaq-100:
| Company | Ticker | February price change | 2023 price change | 2022 price change |
| Seagen Inc. | SGEN | 27.1% | 38.0% | -16.9% |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA | 20.1% | 60.5% | -50.3% |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc. | PANW | 19.9% | 36.3% | -24.8% |
| Tesla Inc. | TSLA | 19.9% | 68.5% | -65.0% |
| Meta Platforms Inc. Class A | META | 17.6% | 45.6% | -64.2% |
| CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. Class A | CRWD | 15.2% | 15.8% | -48.6% |
| Fortinet Inc. | FTNT | 14.3% | 22.4% | -32.0% |
| Align Technology Inc. | ALGN | 14.3% | 46.1% | -67.9% |
| Ansys Inc. | ANSS | 13.0% | 24.5% | -39.8% |
| Airbnb Inc. Class A | ABNB | 12.8% | 46.6% | -48.6% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
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