2024 has generally been an exceptionally good year for equities. The S&P 500 index hit another all-time high on Wednesday, and it is up a healthy 24% year to date.
As with any market, though, there are laggards. Here's a glance at the five worst-performing S&P 500 stocks thus far in 2024. Are any of these beaten-down businesses worthy of buying consideration at such levels?
A five-pack of veterans
The bottom five are (in order from steepest price decline to narrowest): Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA -0.62%), Estée Lauder (EL -0.51%), Dollar Tree (DLTR -0.26%), Intel (INTC -0.69%), and Moderna (MRNA -0.74%). Here's the scorecard.
| Stock | Sector | YTD price decrease |
|---|---|---|
| Walgreens Boots Alliance | Healthcare | 64.6% |
| Estée Lauder | Cosmetics | 56.7% |
| Dollar Tree | Retail | 56.1% |
| Intel | Tech | 50.3% |
| Moderna | Healthcare | 47.8% |
Data source: Slickcharts.com. Note: YTD price decrease as of market close Nov. 6.
The only repeat in the sector column is healthcare, indicating that those harrowing falls aren't industry-specific (many segments of healthcare are actually thriving these days). What we have here instead is a clutch of one-time high-flyers currently trying to cope with heavy pressure on their businesses.
Intel, the one-time leader in PC processors, has been hurt by declines in PC sales, and it keeps stumbling in its attempts to reinvent itself. Walgreens and Dollar Tree still run heavily brick-and-mortar retail operations in an age dominated by online shopping. Inflation's effect on consumer spending has also dinged the latter company.
As for the others, sentiment on Estée Lauder has been bruised by a lingering succession issue, not to mention an aggressive dividend cut. Meanwhile, investors are getting impatient for Moderna's next triumph after its Spikevax became a go-to vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic's height.
One to consider
Of the quintet, the only stock I think might be a bargain now is Moderna, which continues to develop vaccines and medicines with the very promising mRNA-based technology foundational to Spikevax. Biotechs take time and resources to concoct new products, and I think Moderna will devise more cutting-edge medications and reward investors who are patient enough to wait.
