October marked a cooling-off period for many large-cap technology stocks, which had led the market higher after the pandemic began in March.
Solid earnings reports and record sales for Apple Inc.
AAPL,
Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN,
Facebook Inc.
FB,
and Google holding company Alphabet Inc.
GOOG,
weren’t enough to settle investors’ worries over record new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and political uncertainty heading into the Nov. 3 elections.
Even Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
took a 9.5% tumble during October. Then again, the electric-vehicle pioneer’s stock is still up 364% for 2020.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
pulled back 156 points, or 0.6%, on Friday to close out October with a 4.6% drop — the worst month for the Dow since March, when it plunged nearly 14%. The index has now fallen 7.1% for 2020. (All price changes in this article exclude dividends.)
• The S&P 500 Index
SPX,
was down 1.2% on Friday, ending October with a 2.8% decline. That followed a 3.9% decrease in September. The benchmark index is now up 1.2% for 2020.
• The Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
tumbled 2.4% on Friday, settling the month down 2.3%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq is up 21.6% this year.
The information technology sector was the worst performer among the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 for the month:
| S&P 500 sector | Price change – October | Price change – 2020 |
| Information Technology | -5.2% | 20.9% |
| Energy | -4.7% | -52.5% |
| Health Care | -3.8% | -0.3% |
| Real Estate | -3.4% | -12.0% |
| Consumer Staples | -3.0% | -1.2% |
| Consumer Discretionary | -3.0% | 18.8% |
| Industrials | -1.5% | -6.8% |
| Financials | -1.0% | -22.5% |
| Materials | -0.8% | 2.9% |
| Communication Services | 0.5% | 8.2% |
| Utilities | 5.0% | -3.5% |
| Source: FactSet | ||
Dow
Here’s how all 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average performed during October.
| Company | Ticker | Price change – October | Price change – 2020 | Decline from all-time intraday high | Date of all-time intraday high |
| Amgen Inc. |
AMGN, |
-14.6% | -10.0% | -18.1% | 07/06/2020 |
| Intel Corp. |
INTC, |
-14.5% | -26.0% | -41.6% | 08/28/2000 |
| Boeing Co. |
BA, |
-12.6% | -55.7% | -67.6% | 03/01/2019 |
| Merck & Co. Inc. |
MRK, |
-9.3% | -17.3% | -18.8% | 12/20/2019 |
| Visa Inc. Class A |
V, |
-9.1% | -3.3% | -16.4% | 09/02/2020 |
| American Express Co. |
AXP, |
-9.0% | -26.7% | -33.9% | 01/24/2020 |
| Cisco Systems Inc. |
CSCO, |
-8.9% | -25.1% | -56.2% | 03/27/2000 |
| International Business Machines Corp. |
IBM, |
-8.2% | -16.7% | -48.3% | 03/15/2013 |
| Johnson & Johnson |
JNJ, |
-7.9% | -6.0% | -12.7% | 04/23/2020 |
| Salesforce.com Inc. |
CRM, |
-7.6% | 42.8% | -18.4% | 09/02/2020 |
| Apple Inc. |
AAPL, |
-6.0% | 48.3% | -21.1% | 09/02/2020 |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. |
GS, |
-5.9% | -17.8% | -31.3% | 03/12/2018 |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. |
WBA, |
-5.2% | -42.3% | -65.0% | 08/05/2015 |
| Nike Inc. Class B |
NKE, |
-4.3% | 18.5% | -8.6% | 10/21/2020 |
| Verizon Communications Inc. |
VZ, |
-4.2% | -7.2% | -8.5% | 10/04/1999 |
| Home Depot Inc. |
HD, |
-4.0% | 22.1% | -9.0% | 08/27/2020 |
| Microsoft Corp. |
MSFT, |
-3.7% | 28.4% | -13.1% | 09/02/2020 |
| Chevron Corp. |
CVX, |
-3.4% | -42.3% | -48.5% | 07/24/2014 |
| Dow Inc. |
DOW, |
-3.3% | -16.9% | -24.8% | 04/04/2019 |
| McDonald’s Corp. |
MCD, |
-3.0% | 7.8% | -8.2% | 10/16/2020 |
| Coca-Cola Co. |
KO, |
-2.7% | -13.2% | -20.1% | 02/21/2020 |
| Walt Disney Co. |
DIS, |
-2.3% | -16.2% | -21.0% | 11/26/2019 |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. |
UNH, |
-2.1% | 3.8% | -9.1% | 10/23/2020 |
| Procter & Gamble Co. |
PG, |
-1.4% | 9.7% | -6.0% | 10/16/2020 |
| Walmart Inc. |
WMT, |
-0.8% | 16.8% | -8.3% | 09/02/2020 |
| 3M Co. |
MMM, |
-0.1% | -9.3% | -38.4% | 01/26/2018 |
| Honeywell International Inc. |
HON, |
0.4% | -6.6% | -10.2% | 01/17/2020 |
| J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. |
JPM, |
1.8% | -29.7% | -30.5% | 01/02/2020 |
| Caterpillar Inc. |
CAT, |
5.3% | 6.3% | -9.3% | 01/16/2018 |
| Travelers Cos. Inc. |
TRV, |
11.6% | -11.9% | -22.2% | 07/16/2019 |
| Source: FactSet | |||||
Scroll the tables to see all the data. You can click on the tickers for more about each company.
S&P 500
Among S&P 500 stocks, 58% were down in October. Here are the 10 worst performers for the month:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – October | Price change – 2020 | Decline from all-time intraday high | Date of all-time intraday high |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. |
VRTX, |
-23.4% | -4.8% | -31.9% | 07/07/2020 |
| DexCom Inc. |
DXCM, |
-22.5% | 46.1% | -30.0% | 08/07/2020 |
| Citrix Systems Inc. |
CTXS, |
-17.7% | 2.1% | -34.7% | 07/22/2020 |
| International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. |
IFF, |
-16.2% | -20.4% | -34.8% | 01/17/2018 |
| Fidelity National Information Services Inc. |
FIS, |
-15.5% | -10.5% | -21.3% | 02/14/2020 |
| Mastercard Inc. Class A |
MA, |
-14.6% | -3.3% | -21.4% | 08/28/2020 |
| Amgen Inc. |
AMGN, |
-14.6% | -10.0% | -18.1% | 07/06/2020 |
| Lumen Technologies Inc. |
LUMN, |
-14.6% | -34.7% | -82.7% | 06/14/2007 |
| Intel Corp. |
INTC, |
-14.5% | -26.0% | -41.6% | 08/28/2000 |
| Lennar Corp. Class A |
LEN, |
-14.0% | 25.9% | -19.1% | 10/16/2020 |
| Source: FactSet | |||||
Nasdaq-100
Here are October’s 10 worst performers among components of the Nasdaq-100 Index
NDX,
:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – October | Price change – 2020 | Decline from all-time intraday high | Date of all-time intraday high |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. |
VRTX, |
-23.4% | -4.8% | -31.9% | 07/07/2020 |
| DexCom Inc. |
DXCM, |
-22.5% | 46.1% | -30.0% | 08/07/2020 |
| Citrix Systems Inc. |
CTXS, |
-17.7% | 2.1% | -34.7% | 07/22/2020 |
| Seagen Inc. |
SGEN, |
-14.8% | 46.0% | -22.0% | 10/13/2020 |
| Amgen Inc. |
AMGN, |
-14.6% | -10.0% | -18.1% | 07/06/2020 |
| Intel Corp. |
INTC, |
-14.5% | -26.0% | -41.6% | 08/28/2000 |
| Biogen Inc. |
BIIB, |
-11.1% | -15.1% | -43.0% | 03/20/2015 |
| Liberty Global PLC Class A |
LBTYA, |
-9.7% | -16.5% | -60.7% | 05/27/2015 |
| Tesla Inc. |
TSLA, |
-9.5% | 363.8% | -22.8% | 09/01/2020 |
| Cisco Systems Inc. |
CSCO, |
-8.9% | -25.1% | -56.2% | 03/27/2000 |
| Source: FactSet | |||||
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