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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, -5.60%, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -5.44%, Facebook Inc. FB, -6.31% and Google holding company Alphabet Inc. GOOG, +3.43% 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, -5.54% 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, -0.59% 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, -1.21% 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, -2.45% 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, -0.40% | -14.6% | -10.0% | -18.1% | 07/06/2020 |
| Intel Corp. | INTC, +0.38% | -14.5% | -26.0% | -41.6% | 08/28/2000 |
| Boeing Co. | BA, -2.63% | -12.6% | -55.7% | -67.6% | 03/01/2019 |
| Merck & Co. Inc. | MRK, -0.89% | -9.3% | -17.3% | -18.8% | 12/20/2019 |
| Visa Inc. Class A | V, -1.70% | -9.1% | -3.3% | -16.4% | 09/02/2020 |
| American Express Co. | AXP, +0.18% | -9.0% | -26.7% | -33.9% | 01/24/2020 |
| Cisco Systems Inc. | CSCO, +0.58% | -8.9% | -25.1% | -56.2% | 03/27/2000 |
| International Business Machines Corp. | IBM, +2.52% | -8.2% | -16.7% | -48.3% | 03/15/2013 |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ, -0.05% | -7.9% | -6.0% | -12.7% | 04/23/2020 |
| Salesforce.com Inc. | CRM, -2.05% | -7.6% | 42.8% | -18.4% | 09/02/2020 |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL, -5.60% | -6.0% | 48.3% | -21.1% | 09/02/2020 |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | GS, -0.47% | -5.9% | -17.8% | -31.3% | 03/12/2018 |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. | WBA, +1.55% | -5.2% | -42.3% | -65.0% | 08/05/2015 |
| Nike Inc. Class B | NKE, -2.26% | -4.3% | 18.5% | -8.6% | 10/21/2020 |
| Verizon Communications Inc. | VZ, +0.40% | -4.2% | -7.2% | -8.5% | 10/04/1999 |
| Home Depot Inc. | HD, -1.08% | -4.0% | 22.1% | -9.0% | 08/27/2020 |
| Microsoft Corp. | MSFT, -1.09% | -3.7% | 28.4% | -13.1% | 09/02/2020 |
| Chevron Corp. | CVX, +1.01% | -3.4% | -42.3% | -48.5% | 07/24/2014 |
| Dow Inc. | DOW, -1.64% | -3.3% | -16.9% | -24.8% | 04/04/2019 |
| McDonald’s Corp. | MCD, -0.90% | -3.0% | 7.8% | -8.2% | 10/16/2020 |
| Coca-Cola Co. | KO, +0.08% | -2.7% | -13.2% | -20.1% | 02/21/2020 |
| Walt Disney Co. | DIS, -0.23% | -2.3% | -16.2% | -21.0% | 11/26/2019 |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. | UNH, +0.48% | -2.1% | 3.8% | -9.1% | 10/23/2020 |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | PG, -0.34% | -1.4% | 9.7% | -6.0% | 10/16/2020 |
| Walmart Inc. | WMT, -0.83% | -0.8% | 16.8% | -8.3% | 09/02/2020 |
| 3M Co. | MMM, +0.93% | -0.1% | -9.3% | -38.4% | 01/26/2018 |
| Honeywell International Inc. | HON, +0.21% | 0.4% | -6.6% | -10.2% | 01/17/2020 |
| J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. | JPM, +0.89% | 1.8% | -29.7% | -30.5% | 01/02/2020 |
| Caterpillar Inc. | CAT, +1.53% | 5.3% | 6.3% | -9.3% | 01/16/2018 |
| Travelers Cos. Inc. | TRV, -1.42% | 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, +0.65% | -23.4% | -4.8% | -31.9% | 07/07/2020 |
| DexCom Inc. | DXCM, -4.68% | -22.5% | 46.1% | -30.0% | 08/07/2020 |
| Citrix Systems Inc. | CTXS, -0.57% | -17.7% | 2.1% | -34.7% | 07/22/2020 |
| International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. | IFF, -0.25% | -16.2% | -20.4% | -34.8% | 01/17/2018 |
| Fidelity National Information Services Inc. | FIS, -0.34% | -15.5% | -10.5% | -21.3% | 02/14/2020 |
| Mastercard Inc. Class A | MA, -1.54% | -14.6% | -3.3% | -21.4% | 08/28/2020 |
| Amgen Inc. | AMGN, -0.40% | -14.6% | -10.0% | -18.1% | 07/06/2020 |
| Lumen Technologies Inc. | LUMN, -0.57% | -14.6% | -34.7% | -82.7% | 06/14/2007 |
| Intel Corp. | INTC, +0.38% | -14.5% | -26.0% | -41.6% | 08/28/2000 |
| Lennar Corp. Class A | LEN, -1.91% | -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, -2.62% :
| Company | Ticker | Price change – October | Price change – 2020 | Decline from all-time intraday high | Date of all-time intraday high |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | VRTX, +0.65% | -23.4% | -4.8% | -31.9% | 07/07/2020 |
| DexCom Inc. | DXCM, -4.68% | -22.5% | 46.1% | -30.0% | 08/07/2020 |
| Citrix Systems Inc. | CTXS, -0.57% | -17.7% | 2.1% | -34.7% | 07/22/2020 |
| Seagen Inc. | SGEN, -13.27% | -14.8% | 46.0% | -22.0% | 10/13/2020 |
| Amgen Inc. | AMGN, -0.40% | -14.6% | -10.0% | -18.1% | 07/06/2020 |
| Intel Corp. | INTC, +0.38% | -14.5% | -26.0% | -41.6% | 08/28/2000 |
| Biogen Inc. | BIIB, +2.68% | -11.1% | -15.1% | -43.0% | 03/20/2015 |
| Liberty Global PLC Class A | LBTYA, -0.15% | -9.7% | -16.5% | -60.7% | 05/27/2015 |
| Tesla Inc. | TSLA, -5.54% | -9.5% | 363.8% | -22.8% | 09/01/2020 |
| Cisco Systems Inc. | CSCO, +0.58% | -8.9% | -25.1% | -56.2% | 03/27/2000 |
| Source: FactSet | |||||
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