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Even during a brutal first quarter for the stock market, there were some winners as COVID-19 quickly changed the way people live and work in the U.S.
Thirty stocks among the S&P 500 index rose, and many of the companies are in the business of facilitating remote work, entertainment and commerce. Two of the top five gainers were the pharmaceutical companies farthest along in testing treatments for the novel coronavirus, while a third of the total could be considered technology companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.84% had its worst quarter since 1987, and the S&P 500 index SPX, -1.60% sank 20% for its worst performance since the fourth quarter of 2008.
Here’s how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 performed during the first quarter (excluding dividends), sorted from “best” to worst:
| S&P 500 sector | Price change – first quarter, 2020 | Price change – 2019 |
| Information Technology | -12.2% | 48.0% |
| Health Care | -13.1% | 18.7% |
| Consumer Staples | -13.4% | 24.0% |
| Utilities | -14.2% | 22.2% |
| Communication Services | -17.2% | 30.9% |
| Consumer Discretionary | -19.6% | 26.2% |
| Real Estate | -19.8% | 24.9% |
| Materials | -26.6% | 21.9% |
| Industrials | -27.4% | 26.8% |
| Financials | -32.3% | 29.2% |
| Energy | -51.1% | 7.6% |
| Source: FactSet | ||
The information-technology sector continued to be the best-performing sector, after blowing away all the other sectors last year.
Here are the 30 S&P 500 stocks that rose during the first quarter:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – 2020 | Price change – 2019 | Industry | Sector |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. | REGN, +3.23% | 30.0% | 0.5% | Biotechnology | Health Care |
| Citrix Systems Inc. | CTXS, -2.99% | 27.6% | 8.2% | Software | Information Technology |
| Netflix Inc. | NFLX, +1.22% | 16.0% | 20.9% | Cable/Satellite TV | Communication Services |
| Digital Realty Trust Inc. | DLR, -0.64% | 16.0% | 12.4% | Real-estate investment Trusts | Real Estate |
| Gilead Sciences Inc. | GILD, -1.54% | 15.1% | 3.9% | Biotechnology | Health Care |
| Clorox Co. | CLX, -0.70% | 12.8% | -0.4% | Household/Personal Care | Consumer Staples |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA, -0.75% | 12.0% | 76.3% | Semiconductors | Information Technology |
| SBA Communications Corp. Class A | SBAC, -3.12% | 12.0% | 48.9% | Real-estate investment Trusts | Real Estate |
| MSCI Inc. Class A | MSCI, -1.62% | 11.9% | 75.1% | Investment Managers | Financials |
| Rollins Inc. | ROL, +0.84% | 9.0% | -8.1% | Other Consumer Services | Industrials |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | VRTX, +2.60% | 8.7% | 32.1% | Biotechnology | Health Care |
| Equinix Inc. | EQIX, -3.15% | 7.0% | 65.6% | Real-estate investment Trusts | Real Estate |
| T-Mobile US Inc. | TMUS, +0.94% | 7.0% | 23.3% | Wireless Telecommunications | Communication Services |
| Biogen Inc. | BIIB, +0.08% | 6.6% | -1.4% | Biotechnology | Health Care |
| J.M. Smucker Co. | SJM, +0.33% | 6.6% | 11.4% | Food: Specialty/Candy | Consumer Staples |
| Jack Henry & Associates Inc. | JKHY, -0.52% | 6.6% | 15.1% | Information Technology Services | Information Technology |
| Akamai Technologies Inc. | AKAM, -2.87% | 5.9% | 41.4% | Internet Software/Services | Information Technology |
| Eli Lilly and Co. | LLY, +0.20% | 5.5% | 13.6% | Pharmaceuticals | Health Care |
| Amazon.com Inc. | AMZN, -0.72% | 5.5% | 23.0% | Internet Retail | Consumer Discretionary |
| Newmont Corp. | NEM, -2.33% | 4.2% | 25.4% | Precious Metals | Materials |
| AmerisourceBergen Corp. | ABC, +0.45% | 4.1% | 14.3% | Medical Distributors | Health Care |
| Kroger Co. | KR, +1.59% | 3.9% | 5.4% | Food Retail | Consumer Staples |
| Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. | ODFL, -2.53% | 3.7% | 53.7% | Trucking | Industrials |
| Hormel Foods Corp. | HRL, -0.30% | 3.4% | 5.7% | Food: Meat/Fish/Dairy | Consumer Staples |
| Progressive Corp. | PGR, -3.07% | 2.0% | 20.0% | Property/Casualty Insurance | Financials |
| Crown Castle International Corp | CCI, -2.47% | 1.6% | 30.9% | Real-estate investment Trusts | Real Estate |
| ServiceNow Inc. | NOW, +0.07% | 1.5% | 58.6% | Information Technology Services | Information Technology |
| DaVita Inc. | DVA, -0.46% | 1.4% | 45.8% | Medical/Nursing Services | Health Care |
| Activision Blizzard Inc. | ATVI, +1.73% | 0.1% | 27.6% | Videogames | Communication Services |
| Microsoft Corp. | MSFT, -1.57% | 0.0% | 55.3% | Software | Information Technology |
You can click the tickers for more about each company, including news coverage.
You will need to scroll the table to see all of the data.
If one uses a liberal definition for what makes a “tech company,” they make up more than a third of the list. Listed “tech” companies that aren’t included in the S&P 500 technology sector included Amazon.com US:AMZN, which is part of the consumer discretionary sector; Netflix US:NFLX and Activision Blizzard US:ATVI in the communications services sector; and Digital Realty Trust US:DLR and Equinix US:EQIX, which are organized as real-estate investment trusts even though their business focus is providing data-center services.
Microsoft is at the bottom of the list, with its shares rising a penny during the first quarter to $157.71, from $157.70 on Dec. 31. Microsoft was the only component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average to increase for the quarter.
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