MW UPDATE: These are the best-performing Nasdaq
Posted by Philip van Doorn, MarketWatch on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 Under: Technical Analysis
10:23 AM ET 12/29/20 | MarketWatch
By Philip van Doorn, MarketWatchCOVID-19 has rewarded companies at the cutting edge of mobility and remote working
This has been an incredible year for the stock market as the broad indexes crashed in March, only to roar back as unprecedented stimulus from the federal government and the Federal Reserve drove a tremendous amount of money into equities, even as the economy was reeling.
Below are lists of 2020's winners among components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average , S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 indexes.
First, some honorable mentions, plus Tesla and a warning
Before going to the broad indexes, it's important to note that many of this year's highest flyers aren't part of the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq-100 Index -- or at least not yet. For the Nasdaq-100, it takes time to rebalance the index to bring the largest companies in the Nasdaq Composite Index into the smaller subset. Here's a list of 15 stocks that aren't yet included in SPX or NDX (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/15-stock-market-winners-that-index-fund-investors-missed-in-2020-2020-12-29) but have at least doubled during 2020.
To gain entry to the S&P 500, a company's "most recent quarter's earnings and the sum of its trailing four consecutive quarters' earnings must be positive" and it must also meet other requirements (https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/documents/additional-material/sp-500-brochure.pdf) (https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/documents/additional-material/sp-500-brochure.pdf), according to S&P Global.
Tesla Inc. (TSLA) met the bill and was added to the S&P 500 on Dec. 21, after the stock had skyrocketed 731% by then. The electric vehicle maker tops the lists of the year's S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 winners below.
But Tesla's addition to the S&P 500 following five quarters of positive earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-plays-smoke-and-mirrors-with-profits-again-11603329872) raises what may be a red flag for some investors. In a note to clients on Dec. 24, Jefferies analyst Christopher Wood pointed out that when Tesla was added to the S&P, its market capitalization was greater than the combined stock-market values of Toyota, Volkswagen (VOW3.XE) , General Motors Co. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F), Honda Motor Co. (7267.TO) and Nissan Motor Co. (7201.TO). Wood added that all those firms were "busy spending serious amounts of money in electric vehicles, lured by various incentives, be they subsides or fines."
Here's the kicker: Wood wrote that as far as he could tell, "Tesla only generates profits at present by selling tax credits," which are payments to Tesla by other auto manufacturers who make too few electric vehicles to satisfy regulators. Wood continued: "So in this respect, as noted in an excellent article in The Wall Street Journal in August, the irony is that Tesla is worth more than most of the industry it relies on for the subsidies that are the only reason it has been able to report five consecutive quarters of profits." (The italics are mine.)
More on Tesla and credits:Tesla plays smoke and mirrors with profits again (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tesla-plays-smoke-and-mirrors-with-profits-again-11603329872)
Next, the FAANGs
Perhaps surprisingly, none of the high-profile FAANG stocks -- Facebook Inc. (FB), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Google holding company Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)(GOOGL) -- made the S&P 500 list of 20 best performers.
However, Amazon and Apple made the list of top 20 Nasdaq-100 performers, and Apple topped the the Dow 30 components. Here's how the other FAANGs have performed through Dec. 28:
-- Facebook climbed 32%.
-- Netflix soared 60%.
-- Alphabet's Class C shares jumped 33%, while the Class A shares gained 32%.
Best-performing S&P 500 stocks of 2020
The S&P 500 has risen 15.6% this year through Dec. 28. Here are the 20 components of the benchmark index that have shown the biggest gains:
Company Ticker Industry Price change - 2020 Tesla Inc. US:TSLA Motor Vehicles 693% Etsy Inc. US:ETSY Miscellaneous Commercial Services 302% Nvidia Corp. US:NVDA Semiconductors 119% PayPal Holdings Inc. US:PYPL Data Processing Services 118% L Brands Inc. US:LB Apparel/Footwear Retail 114% Albemarle Corp. US:ALB Chemicals: Specialty 105% Advanced Micro Devices Inc. US:AMD Semiconductors 100% Cadence Design Systems Inc. US:CDNS Software 94% ServiceNow Inc. US:NOW Information Technology Services 93% Idexx Laboratories Inc. US:IDXX Medical Specialties 89% Freeport-McMoRan Inc. US:FCX Other Metals/Minerals 88% Align Technology Inc. US:ALGN Medical Specialties 87% Apple Inc. US:AAPL Telecommunications Equipment 86% West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. US:WST Medical Specialties 85% Synopsys Inc. US:SNPS Software 84% Abiomed Inc. US:ABMD Medical Specialties 83% Catalent Inc. US:CTLT Pharmaceuticals: Other 83% Amazon.com Inc. US:AMZN Internet Retail 78% Rollins Inc. US:ROL Other Consumer Services 76% Paycom Software Inc. US:PAYC Software 75%
You can click on the tickers for more about each company, including news coverage, profiles, price ratios, ratings and charts.
Nasdaq-100
The Nasdaq-100 has leapt a whopping 47% in 2020, while the full Nasdaq Composite Index has risen 43.8%. Like the S&P 500, the Nasdaq and Nasdaq-100 are weighted by market capitalization, which means big tech names have driven the indexes' strong performance.
Here are this year's 20 best-performing stocks among the Nasdaq-100:
Company Ticker Industry Price change - 2020 Tesla Inc. US:TSLA Motor Vehicles 693% Moderna Inc. US:MRNA Biotechnology 470% Peloton Interactive Inc. Class A US:PTON Other Consumer Services 436% Zoom Video Communications Inc. Class A US:ZM Software 416% Pinduoduo Inc. ADR Class A US:PDD Internet Retail 280% DocuSign Inc. US:DOCU Software 209% MercadoLibre Inc. US:MELI Internet Software/Services 191% Okta Inc. Class A US:OKTA Software 128% Nvidia Corp. US:NVDA Semiconductors 119% PayPal Holdings Inc. US:PYPL Data Processing Services 118% Advanced Micro Devices Inc. US:AMD Semiconductors 100% Cadence Design Systems Inc. US:CDNS Software 94% Atlassian Corp. PLC Class A US:TEAM Software 93% Idexx Laboratories Inc. US:IDXX Medical Specialties 89% Align Technology Inc. US:ALGN Medical Specialties 87% Apple Inc. US:AAPL Telecommunications Equipment 86% Synopsys Inc. US:SNPS Software 84% Amazon.com Inc. US:AMZN Internet Retail 78% Marvell Technology Group Ltd. US:MRVL Semiconductors 77% T-Mobile US Inc. US:TMUS Wireless Telecommunications 70% Source: FactSet
The good old Dow
By comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen a relatively paltry 6.8% in 2020. Three changes were made to the 30-stock index on Aug: 31:
-- Salesforce.com Inc.(CRM) was added to the Dow, replacing Exxon Mobil Corp.(XOM).
-- Honewell International Inc. (HON) replaced Raytheon Technologies Corp. (RTX).
-- Amgen Inc. (AMGN) replaced Pfizer Inc.(PFE).
2020-12-29 15:23:00 GMT MW UPDATE: These are the best-performing Nasdaq -2-
Here's how all 30 current components of the Dow have performed in 2020:
Company Ticker Industry Price change - 2020 Apple Inc. US:AAPL Telecommunications Equipment 86% Microsoft Corp. US:MSFT Software 43% Nike Inc. Class B US:NKE Apparel/Footwear 41% Salesforce.com Inc. US:CRM Software 38% Walt Disney Co. US:DIS Cable/Satellite TV 24% Home Depot Inc. US:HD Home Improvement Chains 23% Walmart Inc. US:WMT Food Retail 22% Caterpillar Inc. US:CAT Trucks/Construction/Farm Machinery 21% Honeywell International Inc. US:HON Industrial Conglomerates 19% UnitedHealth Group Inc. US:UNH Managed Health Care 18% Visa Inc. Class A US:V Finance/Rental/Leasing 13% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. US:GS Investment Banks/Brokers 13% Procter & Gamble Co. US:PG Household/Personal Care 11% McDonald's Corp. US:MCD Restaurants 8% Johnson & Johnson US:JNJ Pharmaceuticals: Major 5% Travelers Cos. Inc. US:TRV Multi-Line Insurance 2% Dow Inc. US:DOW Chemicals: Specialty -1% 3M Co. US:MMM Industrial Conglomerates -1% Coca-Cola Co. US:KO Beverages: Non-Alcoholic -2% Verizon Communications Inc. US:VZ Major Telecommunications -4% American Express Co. US:AXP Finance/Rental/Leasing -5% Cisco Systems Inc. US:CSCO Information Technology Services -6% International Business Machines Corp. US:IBM Information Technology Services -7% Amgen Inc. US:AMGN Biotechnology -7% JPMorgan Chase & Co. US:JPM Major Banks -10% Merck & Co. Inc. US:MRK Pharmaceuticals: Major -12% Intel Corp. US:INTC Semiconductors -21% Chevron Corp. US:CVX Integrated Oil -30% Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. US:WBA Drugstore Chains -33% Boeing Co. US:BA Aerospace & Defense -34% Source: FactSet
Don't miss:20 of analysts' favorite large-cap stocks for 2021, including GM, Facebook and Salesforce (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/20-of-analysts-favorite-large-cap-stocks-for-2021-including-gm-facebook-and-salesforce-11607978661)
-Philip van Doorn; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
In : Technical Analysis
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