Updated with month-end prices.
The euphoria of January reversed in February, 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 rose 19% in February and are now up 67% for 2023, following their 65% plunge last year. Similarly, shares of Nvidia Corp. NVDA were up 19% for February and up 59% for this year, following a 50% decline in 2022.
Below is a list of February’s worst- and best-performing stocks.
The S&P 500 SPX was down slightly on Feb. 28 and ended with a 2.6% decline for the month but a 3.4% increase for 2023. (All price changes in this article exclude dividends.)
Here’s how the 11 sectors of the benchmark index fared:
The energy sector was the worst performer of February, while the information technology sector was the only one to show a gain.
| Index | February price change | 2023 price change | 2022 price change |
| Energy | -7.6% | -5.1% | 59.0% |
| Utilities | -6.4% | -8.3% | -1.4% |
| Real estate | -6.1% | 3.2% | -28.4% |
| Health care | -4.7% | -6.6% | -3.6% |
| Communication services | -4.7% | 8.9% | -40.4% |
| Materials | -3.5% | 5.2% | -14.1% |
| Consumer staples | -2.5% | -3.5% | -3.2% |
| Financials | -2.4% | 4.1% | -12.4% |
| Consumer discretionary | -2.3% | 12.4% | -37.6% |
| Industrials | -1.2% | 2.5% | -7.1% |
| Information technology | 0.3% | 9.6% | -28.9% |
| S&P 500 | -2.6% | 3.4% | -19.4% |
| Source: FactSet | |||
Among the S&P 500, 78% of stocks showed declines during February.
Here are the 20 worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 for the month:
| Company | Ticker | February price change | 2023 price change | 2022 price change |
| Lumen Technologies Inc. | LUMN | -35.2% | -34.9% | -58.4% |
| Match Group Inc. | MTCH | -23.5% | -0.2% | -68.6% |
| Moderna Inc. | MRNA | -21.2% | -22.7% | -29.3% |
| Dish Network Corp. Class A | DISH | -20.7% | -18.7% | -56.7% |
| WestRock Co. | WRK | -20.0% | -10.7% | -20.7% |
| V.F. Corp. | VFC | -19.8% | -10.1% | -62.3% |
| Organon & Co. | OGN | -18.7% | -12.3% | -8.3% |
| Akamai Technologies Inc. | AKAM | -18.4% | -13.9% | -28.0% |
| Newmont Corp. | NEM | -17.6% | -7.6% | -23.9% |
| International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. | IFF | -17.1% | -11.1% | -30.4% |
| Domino’s Pizza Inc. | DPZ | -16.7% | -15.1% | -38.6% |
| Fidelity National Information Services Inc. | FIS | -15.6% | -6.6% | -37.8% |
| News Corp. Class A | NWSA | -15.4% | -5.8% | -18.4% |
| Gen Digital Inc. | GEN | -15.2% | -9.0% | -17.5% |
| ConocoPhillips | COP | -15.2% | -12.4% | 63.5% |
| Devon Energy Corp. | DVN | -14.7% | -12.3% | 39.6% |
| EOG Resources Inc. | EOG | -14.5% | -12.7% | 45.8% |
| Mohawk Industries Inc. | MHK | -14.3% | 0.6% | -43.9% |
| Electronic Arts Inc. | EA | -13.8% | -9.2% | -7.4% |
| APA Corp. | APA | -13.4% | -17.8% | 73.6% |
| 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 | 27.4% | 51.6% | -64.8% |
| West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. | WST | 19.4% | 34.7% | -49.8% |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA | 18.8% | 58.9% | -50.3% |
| Tesla Inc. | TSLA | 18.8% | 67.0% | -65.0% |
| Meta Platforms Inc. Class A | META | 17.4% | 45.4% | -64.2% |
| Align Technology Inc. | ALGN | 14.7% | 46.8% | -67.9% |
| Ansys Inc. | ANSS | 14.0% | 25.7% | -39.8% |
| Fortinet Inc. | FTNT | 13.6% | 21.6% | -32.0% |
| Monolithic Power Systems Inc. | MPWR | 13.5% | 37.0% | -28.3% |
| W.W. Grainger Inc. | GWW | 13.4% | 20.2% | 7.3% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
The Dow 30
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA pulled back 4.2% for the month, though it was down only 1.5% for 2023. All but three of its 30 of its components declined in February:
| Company | Ticker | February price change | 2023 price change | 2022 price change |
| Intel Corp. | INTC | -11.8% | -5.7% | -48.7% |
| Home Depot Inc. | HD | -8.5% | -6.1% | -23.9% |
| Amgen Inc. | AMGN | -8.2% | -11.8% | 16.7% |
| Walt Disney Co. | DIS | -8.2% | 14.7% | -43.9% |
| Honeywell International Inc. | HON | -8.2% | -10.6% | 2.8% |
| Chevron Corp. | CVX | -7.6% | -10.4% | 53.0% |
| Nike Inc. Class B | NKE | -6.7% | 1.5% | -29.8% |
| Verizon Communications Inc. | VZ | -6.6% | -1.5% | -24.2% |
| 3M Co. | MMM | -6.4% | -10.2% | -32.5% |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | -6.2% | -13.2% | 3.3% |
| Boeing Co. | BA | -5.4% | 5.8% | -5.4% |
| Caterpillar Inc. | CAT | -5.0% | 0.0% | 15.9% |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. | UNH | -4.7% | -10.2% | 5.6% |
| Visa Inc. Class A | V | -4.5% | 5.9% | -4.1% |
| International Business Machines Corp. | IBM | -4.0% | -8.2% | 5.4% |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | GS | -3.9% | 2.4% | -10.2% |
| Dow Inc. | DOW | -3.6% | 13.5% | -11.2% |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. | WBA | -3.6% | -4.9% | -28.4% |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | PG | -3.4% | -9.2% | -7.3% |
| Travelers Cos. Inc. | TRV | -3.1% | -1.3% | 19.9% |
| Coca-Cola Co. | KO | -3.0% | -6.4% | 7.4% |
| Salesforce Inc. | CRM | -2.6% | 23.4% | -47.8% |
| McDonald’s Corp. | MCD | -1.3% | 0.1% | -1.7% |
| Walmart Inc. | WMT | -1.2% | 0.2% | -2.0% |
| Merck & Co. Inc. | MRK | -1.1% | -4.2% | 44.8% |
| American Express Co. | AXP | -0.5% | 17.8% | -9.7% |
| Cisco Systems Inc. | CSCO | -0.5% | 1.6% | -24.8% |
| Microsoft Corp. | MSFT | 0.6% | 4.0% | -28.7% |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL | 2.2% | 13.5% | -26.8% |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | JPM | 2.4% | 6.9% | -15.3% |
| Source: FatSet | ||||
Nasdaq-100
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP fell only 1.1% in February and was up 9.4% 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 |
| Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | SIRI | -24.2% | -24.8% | -8.0% |
| Lucid Group Inc. | LCID | -21.9% | 33.7% | -82.0% |
| Moderna Inc. | MRNA | -21.2% | -22.7% | -29.3% |
| Electronic Arts Inc. | EA | -13.8% | -9.2% | -7.4% |
| Adobe Inc. | ADBE | -12.5% | -3.7% | -40.7% |
| Constellation Energy Corp. | CEG | -12.3% | -13.1% | N/A |
| Intel Corp. | INTC | -11.8% | -5.7% | -48.7% |
| PDD Holdings Inc Sponsored ADR Class A | PDD | -10.5% | 7.6% | 39.9% |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | VRTX | -10.2% | 0.5% | 31.5% |
| PayPal Holdings Inc. | PYPL | -9.7% | 3.3% | -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 | 28.8% | 39.8% | -16.9% |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA | 18.8% | 58.9% | -50.3% |
| Tesla Inc. | TSLA | 18.8% | 67.0% | -65.0% |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc. | PANW | 18.7% | 35.0% | -24.8% |
| Meta Platforms Inc. Class A | META | 17.4% | 45.4% | -64.2% |
| Align Technology Inc. | ALGN | 14.7% | 46.8% | -67.9% |
| Ansys Inc. | ANSS | 14.0% | 25.7% | -39.8% |
| CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. Class A | CRWD | 14.0% | 14.6% | -48.6% |
| Fortinet Inc. | FTNT | 13.6% | 21.6% | -32.0% |
| Airbnb Inc. Class A | ABNB | 11.0% | 44.2% | -48.6% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
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