(Updated with June 30 closing prices.)
The S&P 500 has risen 15.9% this year to 4,450.38, but we’re actually in a bull market, with a 24% gain from the 2022 closing low of 3,577.03 on Oct. 12. (One definition of a bull market is a 20% price increase for a stock index.)
Technology stocks have dominated, as you will see below where we summarize the best and worst performers of the first half of 2023.
First, take a look at the S&P 500’s price chart from the end of 2021 through Friday:
All price changes in this article exclude dividends. We still have a way to go to get back to where the S&P 500
SPX
was before it fell 19% in 2021. The benchmark index is down 7% from then.
Here’s how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 and four broad indexes have performed during the first half of 2023, with changes to their weighted forward price-to-earnings ratios:
| Sector or index | June 30 price change | 2023 price change | 2022 price change | Forward P/E | Forward P/E – Dec. 30, 2022 | Forward P/E – Dec. 31, 2021 |
| Information Technology | 1.8% | 42.1% | -28.9% | 27.0 | 20.0 | 28.2 |
| Communication Services | 1.0% | 35.6% | -40.4% | 17.1 | 14.4 | 21.0 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 1.4% | 32.3% | -37.6% | 27.5 | 21.5 | 34.2 |
| Industrials | 0.9% | 9.2% | -7.1% | 18.8 | 18.4 | 21.3 |
| Materials | 0.9% | 6.6% | -14.1% | 17.3 | 15.7 | 16.6 |
| Real Estate | 0.5% | 1.9% | -28.4% | 17.0 | 16.9 | 24.7 |
| Consumer Staples | 0.9% | 0.0% | -3.2% | 19.9 | 20.6 | 21.4 |
| Financials | 0.9% | -1.5% | -12.4% | 13.1 | 12.9 | 16.1 |
| Healthcare | 1.1% | -2.3% | -3.6% | 17.3 | 17.7 | 17.2 |
| Utilities | 1.2% | -7.2% | -1.4% | 16.7 | 18.8 | 20.4 |
| Energy | 0.6% | -7.3% | 59.0% | 10.6 | 9.8 | 11.1 |
| S&P 500 | 1.2% | 15.9% | -19.4% | 19.0 | 16.8 | 21.5 |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 0.8% | 3.8% | -8.8% | 17.0 | 16.6 | 18.9 |
| Nasdaq Composite Index | 1.4% | 31.7% | -33.1% | 27.5 | 22.6 | 32.0 |
| Nasdaq-100 Index | 1.6% | 38.8% | -33.0% | 26.8 | 20.9 | 30.3 |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||
Among the S&P 500, 59% of stocks have risen this year.
Information technology has been the strongest performer among the S&P 500 sectors this year, but it is important to note that two important tech players, Alphabet Inc.
GOOGL
GOOG
and Meta Platforms Inc.
META,
are placed in the communications-services sector by S&P, while Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN
is the largest company by market capitalization in the consumer-discretionary sector.
The S&P 500 is weighted by market cap, which means five companies (including two common share classes for Alphabet) make up nearly 24% of the $415 billion SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
SPY,
which tracks the benchmark index.
Here’s how shares of these five companies have performed this year:
| Company | Ticker | 2023 price change | 2022 price change | Price change since end of 2021 | Forward P/E | Forward P/E as of Dec. 31 | Market cap ($bil) | % of SPY |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL | 49% | -27% | 9% | 30.1 | 20.5 | $2,982 | 7.7% |
| Microsoft Corp. | MSFT | 42% | -29% | 1% | 30.9 | 23.1 | $2,491 | 6.8% |
| Amazon.com Inc. | AMZN | 55% | -50% | -22% | 62.0 | 46.7 | $1,312 | 3.1% |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA | 189% | -50% | 44% | 48.8 | 34.4 | $1,008 | 2.7% |
| Alphabet Inc. Class A | GOOGL | 36% | -39% | -17% | 20.3 | 16.9 | $708 | 1.9% |
| Alphabet Inc. Class C | GOOG | 36% | -39% | -16% | 20.6 | 17.0 | $705 | 1.7% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||||
Click on the ticker symbols for more about each company, ETF or index.
Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page.
Here is a chart showing milestones over the past decade as Apple Inc.
AAPL
has moved close to a market value of $3 trillion.
With more investors growing aware of how concentrated the S&P 500 has become, there has been a significant inflow of money into an equal-weighted index strategy over recent weeks.
In One Chart: Think the stock market’s 2023 rally is impressive? Don’t forget to zoom out.
Best and worst performers in the broad indexes
Here are the top 10 performers among the S&P 500 during the first half of 2023:
| Company | Ticker | 2023 price change | 2022 price change | Price change since end of 2021 | Forward P/E | Forward P/E as of Dec. 30 | Forward P/E as of Dec. 31, 2021 |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA | 189% | -50% | 44% | 48.8 | 34.4 | 58.0 |
| Meta Platforms Inc. Class A | META | 138% | -64% | -15% | 21.5 | 14.7 | 23.5 |
| Carnival Corp. | CCL | 134% | -60% | -6% | 38.0 | 41.3 | N/A |
| Tesla Inc. | TSLA | 113% | -65% | -26% | 63.7 | 22.3 | 120.3 |
| Royal Caribbean Group | RCL | 110% | -36% | 35% | 17.7 | 14.9 | 232.4 |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc. | PANW | 83% | -25% | 38% | 51.7 | 38.0 | 70.1 |
| Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. | NCLH | 78% | -41% | 5% | 18.7 | 11.3 | N/A |
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | AMD | 76% | -55% | -21% | 32.3 | 17.7 | 43.1 |
| PulteGroup Inc. | PHM | 71% | -20% | 36% | 8.4 | 6.3 | 6.2 |
| Align Technology Inc. | ALGN | 68% | -68% | -46% | 38.8 | 27.2 | 48.7 |
| Source: FactSet | |||||||
And here are this year’s worst performers among the S&P 500:
| Company | Ticker | 2023 price change | 2022 price change | Price change since end of 2021 | Forward P/E | Forward P/E as of Dec. 30 | Forward P/E as of Dec. 31, 2021 |
| Advance Auto Parts Inc. | AAP | -52% | -39% | -71% | 10.6 | 11.1 | 18.3 |
| KeyCorp | KEY | -47% | -25% | -60% | 6.1 | 7.5 | 11.3 |
| Zions BanCorp. N.A. | ZION | -45% | -22% | -57% | 5.7 | 7.3 | 13.6 |
| Enphase Energy Inc. | ENPH | -37% | 45% | -8% | 25.7 | 48.8 | 60.1 |
| Comerica Inc. | CMA | -37% | -23% | -51% | 5.7 | 6.6 | 14.8 |
| Citizens Financial Group Inc. | CFG | -34% | -17% | -45% | 6.2 | 7.7 | 11.7 |
| Newell Brands Inc | NWL | -33% | -40% | -60% | 8.1 | 9.1 | 11.6 |
| Moderna Inc. | MRNA | -32% | -29% | -52% | N/A | 38.7 | 9.3 |
| Charles Schwab Corp | SCHW | -32% | -1% | -33% | 15.6 | 17.1 | 22.9 |
| EPAM Systems Inc. | EPAM | -31% | -51% | -66% | 21.3 | 26.3 | 59.7 |
| Source: FactSet | |||||||
For a heavier technology concentration, investors can look to the Nasdaq-100 Index
NDX,
which is tracked by the Invesco QQQ Trust
QQQ
and holds shares of the largest 100 nonfinancial companies in the full Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
by market cap.
Here are this year’s best 10 performers among the Nasdaq-100:
| Company | Ticker | 2023 price change | 2022 price change | Price change since end of 2021 | Forward P/E | Forward P/E as of Dec. 30 | Forward P/E as of Dec. 31, 2021 |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA | 189% | -50% | 44% | 48.8 | 34.4 | 58.0 |
| Meta Platforms Inc. Class A | META | 138% | -64% | -15% | 21.5 | 14.7 | 23.5 |
| Tesla Inc. | TSLA | 113% | -65% | -26% | 63.7 | 22.3 | 120.3 |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc. | PANW | 83% | -25% | 38% | 51.7 | 38.0 | 70.1 |
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | AMD | 76% | -55% | -21% | 32.3 | 17.7 | 43.1 |
| Align Technology Inc. | ALGN | 68% | -68% | -46% | 38.8 | 27.2 | 48.7 |
| Marvell Technology Inc. | MRVL | 61% | -58% | -32% | 32.2 | 17.9 | 40.6 |
| Amazon.com Inc. | AMZN | 55% | -50% | -22% | 62.0 | 46.7 | 64.9 |
| Broadcom Inc. | AVGO | 55% | -16% | 30% | 19.6 | 13.6 | 19.8 |
| Fortinet Inc. | FTNT | 55% | -32% | 5% | 47.4 | 35.0 | 78.0 |
| Source: FactSet | |||||||
And here at the 10 components of the Nasdaq-100 showing the largest declines this year:
| Company | Ticker | 2023 price change | 2022 price change | Price change since end of 2021 | Forward P/E | Forward P/E as of Dec. 30 | Forward P/E as of Dec. 31, 2021 |
| Enphase Energy Inc. | ENPH | -37% | 45% | -8% | 25.7 | 48.8 | 60.1 |
| Moderna Inc. | MRNA | -32% | -29% | -52% | #N/A | 38.7 | 9.3 |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. | WBA | -24% | -28% | -45% | 6.9 | 8.1 | 10.4 |
| Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | SIRI | -22% | -8% | -29% | 14.7 | 18.2 | 19.1 |
| Amgen Inc. | AMGN | -15% | 17% | -1% | 11.9 | 14.2 | 12.5 |
| PDD Holdings Inc. ADR Class A | PDD | -15% | 40% | 19% | 14.6 | 19.4 | 59.3 |
| Kraft Heinz Company | KHC | -13% | 13% | -1% | 12.0 | 14.8 | 13.6 |
| Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. | KDP | -12% | -3% | -15% | 16.9 | 19.7 | 21.7 |
| Xcel Energy Inc. | XEL | -11% | 4% | -8% | 17.8 | 20.8 | 21.3 |
| American Electric Power Company Inc. | AEP | -11% | 7% | -5% | 15.5 | 17.9 | 17.9 |
| Source: FactSet | |||||||
The Nasdaq-100 on Thursday was on pace to notch its best-ever first half to a calendar year.
And now for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
; here’s how all 30 of its components have performed during the first half of 2023:
| Company | Ticker | 2023 price change | 2022 price change | Price change since end of 2021 | Forward P/E | Forward P/E as of Dec. 30 | Forward P/E as of Dec. 31, 2021 |
| Salesforce Inc. | CRM | 59% | -48% | -17% | 26.2 | 23.8 | 53.5 |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL | 49% | -27% | 9% | 30.1 | 20.5 | 30.2 |
| Microsoft Corp. | MSFT | 42% | -29% | 1% | 30.9 | 23.1 | 34.0 |
| Intel Corp. | INTC | 27% | -49% | -35% | 31.6 | 14.6 | 13.9 |
| American Express Co. | AXP | 18% | -10% | 6% | 14.8 | 13.7 | 16.9 |
| Visa Inc. Class A | V | 14% | -4% | 10% | 25.0 | 24.1 | 29.4 |
| McDonald’s Corp. | MCD | 13% | -2% | 11% | 25.7 | 25.1 | 26.4 |
| Walmart Inc. | WMT | 11% | -2% | 9% | 24.1 | 21.7 | 21.6 |
| Boeing Co. | BA | 11% | -5% | 5% | 99.8 | 53.7 | 42.7 |
| Cisco Systems Inc. | CSCO | 9% | -25% | -18% | 12.8 | 13.0 | 18.0 |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | JPM | 8% | -15% | -8% | 10.2 | 10.4 | 13.1 |
| Dow Inc. | DOW | 6% | -11% | -6% | 14.0 | 11.5 | 8.9 |
| Merck & Co. Inc. | MRK | 4% | 45% | 51% | 14.9 | 14.8 | 10.6 |
| Walt Disney Co. | DIS | 3% | -44% | -42% | 18.3 | 19.5 | 34.2 |
| Caterpillar Inc. | CAT | 3% | 16% | 19% | 13.5 | 15.7 | 16.7 |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | PG | 0% | -7% | -7% | 23.8 | 25.2 | 26.6 |
| Home Depot Inc. | HD | -2% | -24% | -25% | 20.2 | 18.7 | 25.7 |
| Honeywell International Inc. | HON | -3% | 3% | 0% | 21.6 | 23.3 | 23.2 |
| International Business Machines Corp. | IBM | -5% | 5% | 0% | 13.8 | 14.7 | 12.4 |
| Coca-Cola Co. | KO | -5% | 7% | 2% | 22.2 | 25.2 | 24.3 |
| Verizon Communications Inc. | VZ | -6% | -24% | -28% | 8.0 | 7.9 | 9.6 |
| Nike Inc. Class B | NKE | -6% | -30% | -34% | 29.0 | 32.6 | 38.3 |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | GS | -6% | -10% | -16% | 9.7 | 9.2 | 9.4 |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | -6% | 3% | -3% | 15.3 | 17.0 | 16.5 |
| Travelers Cos. Inc. | TRV | -7% | 20% | 11% | 11.0 | 12.8 | 12.5 |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. | UNH | -9% | 6% | -4% | 18.2 | 21.3 | 23.2 |
| Chevron Corp. | CVX | -12% | 53% | 34% | 11.2 | 10.9 | 12.4 |
| Amgen Inc. | AMGN | -15% | 17% | -1% | 11.9 | 14.2 | 12.5 |
| 3M Co. | MMM | -17% | -32% | -44% | 11.0 | 11.5 | 17.1 |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. | WBA | -24% | -28% | -45% | 6.9 | 8.1 | 10.4 |
| Source: FactSet | |||||||
Read on:
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