(Sept. 30 closing prices.)
The third quarter shaped up to be favorable for U.S. stocks, with broad gains across many sectors, including winners in Big Tech. But there were also surprises, as you can see in the stock tables below.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average US:DJIA was up 7.6% in the third quarter, for a 2.7% decline for all of 2020. The S&P 500 Index US:SPX was up 8.5% in the quarter, for a 4.1% gain for 2020. The Nasdaq Composite Index US:COMP gained 11% in the third quarter and was up 24.5% for 2020, despite a 5% decline in September.
Here’s how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 fared in the third quarter:
| S&P 500 sector | Price change – third quarter, 2020 | Price change – September 2020 | Price change – Sept. 30 | Price change – 2020 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 14.9% | -3.7% | 0.7% | 22.4% |
| Materials | 12.7% | 1.1% | 0.9% | 3.7% |
| Industrials | 12.0% | -0.8% | -0.3% | -5.4% |
| Information Technology | 11.7% | -5.4% | 0.9% | 27.5% |
| Consumer Staples | 9.6% | -1.8% | 1.2% | 1.9% |
| Communication Services | 8.7% | -6.5% | 0.1% | 7.6% |
| Health Care | 5.4% | -2.3% | 1.7% | 3.6% |
| Utilities | 5.2% | 0.8% | 0.9% | -8.1% |
| Financials | 3.8% | -3.7% | 1.2% | -21.7% |
| Real Estate | 1.2% | -2.5% | 0.5% | -8.9% |
| Energy | -20.9% | -14.6% | -0.2% | -50.2% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
None of the price changes in this article include dividends.
Scroll the tables to the right to see all the data.
All sectors of the S&P 500 had gains in the third quarter except for energy, which tumbled almost 20%, even though the price of oil US:CL00, based on continuous contract quotes, rose 2%. Rising COVID-19 infections have led to economic closures, dragging on the sector.
Dow
Among the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 24 were up for the third quarter. There were three changes to the index Aug. 31, with Salesforce.com Inc. US:CRM replacing Exxon Mobil Corp. US:XOM, Amgen Inc. US:AMGN replacing Pfizer Inc. US:PFE and Honeywell International Inc. US:HON replacing Raytheon Technologies Corp. US:RTX.
Here’s how the Dow 30 have performed during Q3, from best to worst:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – third quarter, 2020 | Price change – September 2020 | Price change – Sept. 30 | Price change – 2020 |
| Salesforce.com Inc. | US:CRM | 45.5% | -7.8% | 1.6% | 54.5% |
| Apple Inc. | US:AAPL | 43.9% | -10.3% | 1.5% | 57.8% |
| Nike Inc. Class B | US:NKE | 43.8% | 12.2% | -0.6% | 23.9% |
| McDonald’s Corp. | US:MCD | 25.5% | 2.8% | 0.4% | 11.1% |
| Caterpillar Inc. | US:CAT | 24.7% | 4.8% | 1.2% | 1.0% |
| Dow Inc. | US:DOW | 23.7% | 4.3% | 1.0% | -14.0% |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | US:PG | 19.9% | 0.5% | 1.3% | 11.3% |
| Honeywell International Inc. | US:HON | 19.3% | -0.6% | 0.1% | -7.0% |
| Walmart Inc. | US:WMT | 17.6% | 0.8% | 2.0% | 17.7% |
| Home Depot Inc. | US:HD | 16.7% | -2.6% | 2.1% | 27.2% |
| Walt Disney Co. | US:DIS | 14.7% | -5.9% | -1.1% | -14.2% |
| Coca-Cola Co. | US:KO | 12.5% | -0.3% | 0.9% | -10.8% |
| Amgen Inc. | US:AMGN | 9.8% | 0.3% | 2.4% | 5.4% |
| Verizon Communications Inc. | US:VZ | 8.7% | 0.4% | 0.4% | -3.1% |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. | US:UNH | 8.6% | -0.2% | 2.5% | 6.1% |
| Merck & Co. Inc. | US:MRK | 8.5% | -2.7% | 1.3% | -8.8% |
| Johnson & Johnson | US:JNJ | 7.4% | -3.0% | 1.2% | 2.1% |
| American Express Co. | US:AXP | 7.3% | -1.3% | 2.6% | -19.5% |
| Microsoft Corp. | US:MSFT | 5.0% | -6.7% | 1.5% | 33.4% |
| Visa Inc. Class A | US:V | 5.0% | -5.7% | 0.3% | 6.4% |
| 3M Co. | US:MMM | 3.6% | -1.7% | 0.2% | -9.2% |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | US:JPM | 2.8% | -3.9% | 1.0% | -30.9% |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | US:GS | 2.5% | -1.9% | 2.1% | -12.6% |
| International Business Machines Corp. | US:IBM | 0.9% | -1.3% | 0.6% | -9.2% |
| Travelers Cos. Inc. | US:TRV | -6.6% | -6.8% | 0.7% | -21.0% |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc | US:WBA | -14.8% | -5.5% | 1.5% | -39.1% |
| Intel Corp. | US:INTC | -16.2% | 1.6% | 1.2% | -13.5% |
| Boeing Co. | US:BA | -17.1% | -3.8% | 1.0% | -49.3% |
| Cisco Systems Inc. | US:CSCO | -22.0% | -7.6% | 0.8% | -18.6% |
| Chevron Corp. | US:CVX | -31.8% | -14.2% | 0.1% | -40.3% |
| Source: FactSet | |||||
You can click on the tickers for more about each company, including full news coverage.
Scroll the table to the right to see all the data.
S&P 500 winners and losers
Among the S&P 500, 70% of stocks had gains in the third quarter. Here are the 10 best performers:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – third quarter, 2020 | Price change – September 2020 | Price change – Sept. 30 | Price change – 2020 |
| L Brands Inc. | US:LB | 183.6% | 8.2% | 4.8% | 75.6% |
| FedEx Corp. | US:FDX | 99.6% | 14.4% | -0.8% | 66.3% |
| Whirlpool Corp. | US:WHR | 84.6% | 3.5% | 1.7% | 24.6% |
| Nvidia Corp. | US:NVDA | 75.8% | 1.2% | 2.3% | 130.0% |
| Freeport-McMoRan Inc. | US:FCX | 75.5% | 0.2% | 2.1% | 19.2% |
| Carrier Global Corp. | US:CARR | 72.1% | 2.3% | 0.1% | N/A |
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | US:AMD | 70.6% | -9.7% | 0.3% | 78.8% |
| Gap Inc. | US:GPS | 70.2% | -2.1% | 1.9% | -3.7% |
| PulteGroup Inc. | US:PHM | 69.1% | 3.8% | 2.3% | 19.3% |
| Lennar Corp. Class A | US:LEN | 68.3% | 9.2% | 3.4% | 46.4% |
| Source: FactSet | |||||
And the 10 worst — all were in the energy sector:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – third quarter, 2020 | Price change – September 2020 | Price change – Sept. 30 | Price change – 2020 |
| Apache Corp. | US:APA | -93.5% | -36.0% | -0.7% | -63.0% |
| Occidental Petroleum Corp. | US:OXY | -85.6% | -21.4% | 0.2% | -75.7% |
| Marathon Oil Corp. | US:MRO | -60.6% | -22.5% | -1.7% | -69.9% |
| Diamondback Energy Inc. | US:FANG | -57.4% | -22.7% | -3.5% | -67.6% |
| HollyFrontier Corp. | US:HFC | -50.9% | -17.4% | -2.3% | -61.1% |
| Marathon Petroleum Corp. | US:MPC | -48.4% | -17.3% | -0.3% | -51.3% |
| Phillips 66 | US:PSX | -47.7% | -11.3% | -0.7% | -53.5% |
| Valero Energy Corp. | US:VLO | -47.5% | -17.6% | -0.2% | -53.7% |
| EOG Resources Inc. | US:EOG | -42.6% | -20.7% | -0.7% | -57.1% |
| Hess Corp. | US:HES | -37.6% | -11.1% | 0.6% | -38.7% |
| Source: FactSet | |||||
Nasdaq-100 winners and losers
Here are the 10 best performers during the third quarter among components of the Nasdaq-100 Index US:NDX :
| Company | Ticker | Price change – third quarter, 2020 | Price change – September 2020 | Price change – Sept. 30 | Price change – 2020 |
| Tesla Inc. | US:TSLA | 245.3% | -13.9% | 2.4% | 412.8% |
| Zoom Video Communications Inc. Class A | US:ZM | 135.7% | 44.6% | 1.0% | 590.9% |
| NVIDIA Corp. | US:NVDA | 75.8% | 1.2% | 2.3% | 130.0% |
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | US:AMD | 70.6% | -9.7% | 0.3% | 78.8% |
| DocuSign Inc. | US:DOCU | 51.5% | -3.5% | 1.1% | 190.4% |
| Apple Inc. | US:AAPL | 43.9% | -10.3% | 1.5% | 57.8% |
| Qualcomm Inc. | US:QCOM | 42.3% | -1.2% | 0.3% | 33.4% |
| Cintas Corp. | US:CTAS | 42.3% | -0.1% | 0.8% | 23.7% |
| Align Technology Inc. | US:ALGN | 38.4% | 10.2% | 2.2% | 17.3% |
| Intuitive Surgical Inc. | US:ISRG | 38.0% | -2.9% | 2.4% | 20.0% |
| Source: FactSet | |||||
And the 10 worst — with what may be some surprises among tech, biotech and pharmaceutical names:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – third quarter, 2020 | Price change – September 2020 | Price change – Sept. 30 | Price change – 2020 |
| BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. | US:BMRN | -66.2% | -2.5% | 0.1% | -10.0% |
| Pinduoduo Inc. ADR Class A | US:PDD | -34.3% | -16.6% | 0.6% | 96.1% |
| Illumina Inc. | US:ILMN | -25.8% | -13.5% | 1.2% | -6.8% |
| Incyte Corp. | US:INCY | -22.5% | -6.9% | 2.6% | 2.8% |
| Western Digital Corp. | US:WDC | -22.1% | -4.9% | -7.0% | -42.4% |
| Cisco Systems Inc. | US:CSCO | -22.0% | -7.6% | -0.1% | -18.6% |
| Gilead Sciences Inc. | US:GILD | -18.9% | -5.3% | 1.8% | -2.8% |
| Intel Corp. | US:INTC | -16.2% | 1.6% | 1.2% | -13.5% |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc | US:WBA | -14.8% | -5.5% | 1.5% | -39.1% |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. | US:REGN | -14.0% | -9.7% | -2.4% | 49.1% |
| Source: FactSet | |||||
Add Comment