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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