Stocks declined again on Friday, closing out September with large losses across the board as the rally from the June lows partway through August faded into memory.
The S&P 500
SPX
fell 1.5% on Friday. The benchmark index slumped 9.3% for September, leading to a 2022 loss of 24.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
gave up 1.7% on Friday, for a September decline of 8.8%. The Dow has now fallen 20.9% for 2022. The Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP
pulled back 1.5% on Friday for a September drop of 10.5% and a year-to-date plunge of 32.4%. (All price changes in this article exclude dividends.)
Below is a list of stocks in the S&P 500 that fell the most during September.
It was the worst September performance for U.S. stocks since 2008, according to Dow Jones Market Data. William Watts looked back to see what poor performance during September may portend for October.
Real estate leads the sector bloodbath
All sectors of the S&P 500 were down during September, including five that fell by double digits:
| S&P 500 sector | Sept. 30 price change | September price change | 2022 price change |
| Real Estate | 1.0% | -13.6% | -30.4% |
| Communication Services | -1.7% | -12.2% | -39.4% |
| Information Technology | -1.9% | -12.0% | -31.9% |
| Utilities | -2.0% | -11.5% | -8.6% |
| Industrials | -1.3% | -10.6% | -21.7% |
| Energy | -0.9% | -9.7% | 30.7% |
| Materials | -0.3% | -9.6% | -24.9% |
| Consumer Staples | -1.8% | -8.3% | -13.5% |
| Consumer Discretionary | -1.8% | -8.1% | -30.3% |
| Financials | -1.1% | -7.9% | -22.4% |
| Health Care | -1.4% | -2.7% | -14.1% |
| S&P 500 | -1.5% | -9.3% | -24.8% |
| Source: FactSet | |||
Worst performers in the S&P 500 in September
| Company | Ticker | Sept. 30 price change | September price change | 2022 price change | Decline from 52-week intraday high | Date of 52-week intraday high |
| FedEx Corp. | FDX | -2.5% | -29.6% | -42.6% | -44.4% | 01/05/2022 |
| V.F. Corp. | VFC | -2.7% | -27.8% | -59.2% | -62.1% | 11/16/2021 |
| Lumen Technologies Inc. | LUMN | -1.4% | -26.9% | -42.0% | -49.8% | 11/05/2021 |
| Ford Motor Co. | F | -2.4% | -26.5% | -46.1% | -56.7% | 01/13/2022 |
| Charter Communications Inc. Class A | CHTR | -3.0% | -26.5% | -53.5% | -59.8% | 10/07/2021 |
| Adobe Inc. | ADBE | -1.1% | -26.3% | -51.5% | -60.7% | 11/22/2021 |
| Carnival Corp. | CCL | -23.3% | -25.7% | -65.1% | -73.5% | 10/01/2021 |
| CarMax Inc. | KMX | 1.3% | -25.4% | -49.3% | -57.7% | 11/08/2021 |
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | AMD | -1.2% | -25.3% | -56.0% | -61.5% | 11/30/2021 |
| Caesars Entertainment Inc. | CZR | -0.5% | -25.2% | -65.5% | -73.1% | 10/01/2021 |
| Boeing Co. | BA | -3.4% | -24.4% | -39.9% | -48.2% | 11/15/2021 |
| WestRock Co. | WRK | -1.6% | -23.9% | -30.4% | -43.6% | 05/05/2022 |
| International Paper Co. | IP | -1.2% | -23.8% | -32.5% | -44.0% | 10/13/2021 |
| Western Digital Corp. | WDC | 1.1% | -23.0% | -50.1% | -53.1% | 01/05/2022 |
| Newell Brands Inc. | NWL | -0.6% | -22.2% | -36.4% | -47.5% | 02/16/2022 |
| Eastman Chemical Co. | EMN | 0.3% | -21.9% | -41.2% | -45.1% | 01/19/2022 |
| Nike Inc. Class B | NKE | -12.8% | -21.9% | -50.1% | -53.6% | 11/05/2021 |
| Seagate Technology Holdings PLC | STX | -2.1% | -20.5% | -52.9% | -54.8% | 01/05/2022 |
| PVH Corp. | PVH | -3.6% | -20.4% | -58.0% | -64.3% | 11/05/2021 |
| Dish Network Corp. Class A | DISH | -2.2% | -20.3% | -57.4% | -70.1% | 10/04/2021 |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||
Click on the tickers for more about each company, including developments that led to their share-price declines.
Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information for free on the MarketWatch quote page.
FedEx Corp.
FDX
tops the list because of investors’ harsh reaction to the company’s sales and profit warning on Sept. 16. Claudia Assis and Greg Robb explained the implications of FedEx’s warning for the broad economy.
Shares of Carnival Corp.
CCL
fell 23% on Friday (for a September decline of 26%) after the cruise giant again reported sales and earnings below what analysts had expected, even though it reported increasing its capacity usage to 92%.
Nike Inc.
NKE
was down 13% on Friday for a September decline of 22%, after the company warned that discounting to clear inventory would continue to affect its earnings performance. Here’s how analysts reacted.
Adobe Inc.
ADBE
made the list because of investors’ doubt about its dilutive $20 billion deal to acquire Figma.
The bulk of CarMax’s
KMX
drop for the month came on Sept. 29, after the used-car dealer missed sales and earnings estimates and indicated that consumers were beginning to resist high prices.
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