The second quarter was a dramatic one for U.S. stocks — the S&P 500 had its best quarter since 1998.
But many of the best performers were really bounce backs from the doldrums of March, when the market hit bottom during the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Some stocks are still down for 2020, but there were also some “real” winners — ones that were up significantly in the quarter and the first half of the year.
Below are lists of stocks that rose the most during the second quarter.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.84% climbed 17.8% in the second quarter, but was down 9.6% for the first half of 2020. (All gains and losses in this article exclude dividends.)
• The S&P 500 SPX, +1.54% added 20% in the second quarter, and ended Tuesday down 4% for 2020.
• The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +1.87% soared 30.6% during the second quarter and is now up 12.1% for 2020.
There are still hundreds of large-cap U.S. stocks with double-digit declines for the year. To lift the sagging economy, the Federal Reserve is supporting the market with extremely low interest rates and a vast increase in the money supply through securities purchases. In addition, the federal government is giving unprecedented aid to people and businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Rising forward valuations
Here’s chart showing the S&P 500 trading at its highest forward price-to-earnings valuation since February 2001:
The S&P 500 traded for 21.6 times weighted consensus forward earnings estimates at the close June 30, up from a forward P/E valuation of 18.3 at the end of 2019.
That forward P/E ratio is up, even thought the S&P 500 is down this year, because analysts have cut their earnings estimates following the economic devastation caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. So there are myriad warnings of an asset bubble.
James Bullard, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said last week that he didn’t see evidence of an asset bubble. Charles Evans, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said the economy might need even further stimulus, and that U.S. interest rates may head into negative territory.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Here’s how the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average performed in the second quarter:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – second quarter, 2020 | Price change – first half, 2020 | Price change – 2019 |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL, +0.83% | 43.5% | 24.2% | 86.2% |
| Dow Inc. | DOW, -0.53% | 39.4% | -25.5% | N/A |
| Home Depot Inc. | HD, +1.78% | 34.2% | 14.7% | 27.1% |
| Microsoft Corp. | MSFT, +2.55% | 29.0% | 29.0% | 55.3% |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | GS, +2.14% | 27.8% | -14.1% | 37.6% |
| Chevron Corp. | CVX, +1.77% | 23.1% | -26.0% | 10.8% |
| Boeing Co. | BA, -5.75% | 22.9% | -43.7% | 1.0% |
| Visa Inc. Class A | V, +0.93% | 19.9% | 2.8% | 42.4% |
| Cisco Systems Inc. | CSCO, +1.06% | 18.6% | -2.8% | 10.7% |
| Nike Inc. Class B | NKE, +2.27% | 18.5% | -3.2% | 36.6% |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. | UNH, +1.79% | 18.3% | 0.3% | 18.0% |
| Exxon Mobil Corp. | XOM, +0.90% | 17.7% | -36.0% | 2.3% |
| Walt Disney Co. | DIS, -0.00% | 15.4% | -22.9% | 31.9% |
| Travelers Companies Inc. | TRV, +1.01% | 14.8% | -16.7% | 14.4% |
| 3M Co. | MMM, +0.27% | 14.3% | -11.6% | -7.4% |
| McDonald’s Corp. | MCD, +0.91% | 11.6% | -6.6% | 11.3% |
| American Express Co. | AXP, +0.71% | 11.2% | -23.5% | 30.6% |
| Raytheon Technologies Corp. | RTX, -0.48% | 10.8% | -30.2% | 40.6% |
| Intel Corp. | INTC, +2.67% | 10.6% | 0.0% | 27.5% |
| Caterpillar Inc. | CAT, +0.99% | 9.0% | -14.3% | 16.2% |
| International Business Machines Corp. | IBM, +0.85% | 8.9% | -9.9% | 17.9% |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | PG, +1.62% | 8.7% | -4.3% | 35.9% |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ, +1.14% | 7.2% | -3.6% | 13.0% |
| Walmart Inc. | WMT, +0.60% | 5.4% | 0.8% | 27.6% |
| J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. | JPM, +1.14% | 4.5% | -32.5% | 42.8% |
| Verizon Communications Inc. | VZ, +0.80% | 2.6% | -10.2% | 9.2% |
| Coca-Cola Co. | KO, +0.72% | 1.0% | -19.3% | 16.9% |
| Merck & Co. Inc. | MRK, +1.59% | 0.5% | -15.0% | 19.0% |
| Pfizer Inc. | PFE, +0.18% | 0.2% | -16.5% | -10.2% |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. | WBA, +0.16% | -7.3% | -28.1% | -13.7% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
Scroll the table to see all the data. Click on the tickers for more about each company.
All Dow components except for Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA, +0.16% were up during the second quarter, but only six were up for the first half of 2020.
Apple’s AAPL, +0.83% has been remarkable. The stock was up 43.5% during the second quarter, ending June with a 24.3% gain for the first half of the year.
Other “real” winners among the Dow included Home Depot HD, +1.78% and Microsoft MSFT, +2.55%.
S&P 500
Here’s how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 performed during the second quarter:
| S&P 500 sector | Price change – second quarter, 2020 | Price change – first half, 2020 | Price change – 2019 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 32.6% | 6.6% | 26.2% |
| Information Technology | 30.1% | 14.2% | 48.0% |
| Energy | 28.7% | -37.0% | 7.6% |
| Materials | 25.3% | -8.0% | 21.9% |
| Communication Services | 19.6% | -1.0% | 30.9% |
| Industrials | 16.4% | -15.5% | 26.8% |
| Health Care | 13.1% | -1.7% | 18.7% |
| Real Estate | 12.3% | -10.0% | 24.9% |
| Financials | 11.4% | -24.6% | 29.2% |
| Consumer Staples | 7.3% | -7.1% | 24.0% |
| Utilities | 1.8% | -12.6% | 22.2% |
| Source: FactSet | |||
The consumer discretionary sector was the best performer during the second quarter, but its year-to-date performance shows how dramatically it fell before the big comeback. The information technology sector was second-best during Q2. However it was, by far, the best performer in the first half of 2020.
Among the S&P 500, 451 stocks rose during the second quarter, but only 135 were up for the first half of the year.
Here are the 20 best performers among the S&P 500 during the second quarter of 2020:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – second quarter, 2020 | Price change – First half, 2020 | Price change – 2019 |
| Apache Corp. | APA, +1.27% | 223.0% | -47.2% | -2.5% |
| Halliburton Co. | HAL, +4.50% | 89.5% | -47.0% | -7.9% |
| Marathon Oil Corp. | MRO, +2.68% | 86.0% | -54.9% | -5.3% |
| PayPal Holdings Inc. | PYPL, +3.49% | 82.0% | 61.1% | 28.6% |
| Gap Inc. | GPS, +0.87% | 79.3% | -28.6% | -31.4% |
| EBay Inc. | EBAY, +2.22% | 74.5% | 45.3% | 28.6% |
| Dish Network Corp. Class A | DISH, +4.41% | 72.6% | -2.7% | 42.6% |
| Freeport-McMoRan Inc. | FCX, +4.80% | 71.4% | -11.8% | 27.3% |
| ViacomCBS Inc. Class B | VIAC, +1.17% | 66.5% | -44.4% | -4.0% |
| Abiomed Inc. | ABMD, +0.55% | 66.4% | 41.6% | -47.5% |
| CarMax Inc. | KMX, +0.64% | 66.4% | 2.1% | 39.8% |
| Devon Energy Corp. | DVN, +1.97% | 64.1% | -56.3% | 15.2% |
| D.R. Horton Inc. | DHI, +1.52% | 63.1% | 5.1% | 52.2% |
| Hologic Inc. | HOLX, +6.88% | 62.4% | 9.2% | 27.0% |
| Lennar Corp. Class A | LEN, +1.09% | 61.3% | 10.4% | 42.5% |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. | CMG, +0.61% | 60.8% | 25.7% | 93.9% |
| Diamondback Energy Inc. | FANG, +0.94% | 59.6% | -55.0% | 0.2% |
| Marathon Petroleum Corp. | MPC, +5.59% | 58.3% | -38.0% | 2.1% |
| Aptiv PLC | APTV, +2.97% | 58.2% | -18.0% | 54.2% |
| Occidental Petroleum Corp. | OXY, +2.46% | 58.0% | -55.6% | -32.9% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
“Real” winners on the list, with tremendous gains in the second quarter but also double-digit gains for the first half of the year, included PayPal PYPL, +3.49%, eBay EBAY, +2.22%, Abiomed ABMD, +0.55%, Lennar LEN, +1.09% and Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG, +0.61%.
Nasdaq-100
Here are the 20 best performers among components of the Nasdaq-100 Index NDX, +1.96% during the second quarter:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – second quarter, 2020 | Price change – first half, 2020 | Price change – 2019 |
| Tesla Inc. | TSLA, +6.98% | 106.1% | 158.1% | 25.7% |
| MercadoLibre Inc. | MELI, +0.50% | 101.8% | 72.4% | 95.3% |
| DocuSign Inc. | DOCU, +0.31% | 86.4% | 132.4% | 84.9% |
| PayPal Holdings Inc. | PYPL, +3.49% | 82.0% | 61.1% | 28.6% |
| EBay Inc. | EBAY, +2.22% | 74.5% | 45.3% | 28.6% |
| Zoom Video Communications Inc. Class A | ZM, +2.00% | 73.5% | 272.6% | #N/A |
| Lululemon Athletica Inc. | LULU, +6.00% | 64.6% | 34.7% | 90.5% |
| Align Technology Inc. | ALGN, +2.98% | 57.8% | -1.6% | 33.2% |
| Splunk Inc. | SPLK, +2.15% | 57.4% | 32.7% | 42.8% |
| Microchip Technology Inc. | MCHP, +2.67% | 55.3% | 0.6% | 45.6% |
| Cintas Corp. | CTAS, +1.04% | 53.8% | -1.0% | 60.2% |
| Autodesk Inc. | ADSK, +3.02% | 53.2% | 30.4% | 42.6% |
| Synopsys Inc. | SNPS, +2.78% | 51.4% | 40.1% | 65.2% |
| DexCom Inc. | DXCM, +1.80% | 50.6% | 85.3% | 82.6% |
| Seattle Genetics Inc. | SGEN, +3.37% | 47.3% | 48.7% | 101.7% |
| Expedia Group Inc. | EXPE, -0.56% | 46.1% | -24.0% | -4.0% |
| BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. | BMRN, +0.94% | 46.0% | 45.9% | -0.7% |
| Cadence Design Systems Inc. | CDNS, +2.05% | 45.3% | 38.4% | 59.5% |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA, +3.23% | 44.1% | 61.5% | 76.3% |
| Workday Inc. Class A | WDAY, +0.63% | 43.9% | 13.9% | 3.0% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
“Real” winners included Tesla TSLA, +6.98%, which more than doubled during the second quarter, but also was up an incredible 158% for the first half of 2020.
Others in the “real” category included MercadoLibre MELI, +0.50%, DocuSign DOCU, +0.31%, Zoom Video Communications ZM, +2.00% and several more that showed double-digit (or better) gains for the second quarter and first half of the year.
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