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(Updates story with year-end closing prices.)
The pandemic year of 2020 was a surprising one for the stock market as the broad indexes crashed in March, only to roar back as unprecedented stimulus from the federal government and the Federal Reserve drove a tremendous amount of money into equities, even as the economy was reeling.
Below are lists of 2020’s winners among components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.65%, S&P 500 SPX, +0.64% and Nasdaq-100 NDX, +0.33% indexes.
Honorable mentions, plus Tesla and a warning
Before going to the broad indexes, it’s important to note that many of this year’s highest flyers aren’t part of the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq-100 Index — or at least not yet. For the Nasdaq-100, it takes time to rebalance the index to bring the largest companies in the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.14% into the smaller subset. Here’s a list of 15 stocks that aren’t yet included in SPX or NDX but soared during 2020.
To gain entry to the S&P 500, a company’s “most recent quarter’s earnings and the sum of its trailing four consecutive quarters’ earnings must be positive” and it must also meet other requirements, according to S&P Global.
Tesla Inc. TSLA, +1.57% met the bill and was added to the S&P 500 on Dec. 21, after the stock had skyrocketed 731% by then. The electric-vehicle maker tops the lists, below, of the year’s S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 winners.
But Tesla’s addition to the S&P 500 following five quarters of positive earnings has raised what may be a red flag for some investors. In a note to clients on Dec. 24, Jefferies analyst Christopher Wood pointed out that when Tesla was added to the S&P, its market capitalization was greater than the combined stock-market values of Toyota, Volkswagen VOW, -0.35% VWAGY, -0.48%, General Motors Co. GM, -0.48%, Ford Motor Co. F, -0.79%, Honda Motor Co. HMC, +0.32% and Nissan Motor Co. NSANY, +0.75%. Wood added that all those firms were “busy spending serious amounts of money in electric vehicles, lured by various incentives, be they subsides or fines.”
Here’s the kicker: Wood wrote that as far as he could tell, “Tesla only generates profits at present by selling tax credits,” which are payments to Tesla by other auto manufacturers who make too few electric vehicles to satisfy regulators. Wood continued: “So in this respect, as noted in an excellent article in The Wall Street Journal in August, the irony is that Tesla is worth more than most of the industry it relies on for the subsidies that are the only reason it has been able to report five consecutive quarters of profits.” (The italics are mine.)
More on Tesla and credits:Tesla plays smoke and mirrors with profits again
The FAANGs
Perhaps surprisingly, none of the high-profile FAANG stocks — Facebook Inc. FB, +0.47%, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -0.88%, Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.77%, Netflix Inc. NFLX, +3.08% and Google holding company Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, +0.94% GOOG, +0.71% — made the S&P 500 list of 20 best performers.
However, Amazon and Apple made the list of top 20 Nasdaq-100 performers, and Apple topped the Dow 30 components. Here’s how the other FAANGs performed in 2020:
• Facebook climbed 33%.
• Netflix jumped 67%.
• Alphabet’s Class C shares and Class A shares gained 31%.
Best-performing S&P 500 stocks of 2020
The S&P 500 rose 16.3% in 2020. (All price changes in this article exclude dividends.) Here are the 20 components of the benchmark index that showed the biggest gains:
| Company | Ticker | Industry | Price change – 2020 |
| Tesla Inc. | TSLA, +1.57% | Motor Vehicles | 743% |
| Etsy Inc. | ETSY, -2.88% | Miscellaneous Commercial Services | 302% |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA, -0.69% | Semiconductors | 122% |
| PayPal Holdings Inc. | PYPL, +1.16% | Data Processing Services | 117% |
| L Brands Inc. | LB, -2.21% | Apparel/Footwear Retail | 105% |
| Albemarle Corp. | ALB, -1.19% | Chemicals: Specialty | 102% |
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | AMD, -0.63% | Semiconductors | 100% |
| Freeport-McMoRan Inc. | FCX, -1.92% | Other Metals/Minerals | 98% |
| Cadence Design Systems Inc. | CDNS, +0.87% | Software | 97% |
| ServiceNow Inc. | NOW, +0.56% | Information Technology Services | 95% |
| Align Technology Inc. | ALGN, +1.92% | Medical Specialties | 92% |
| Idexx Laboratories Inc. | IDXX, +0.59% | Medical Specialties | 91% |
| Abiomed Inc. | ABMD, +0.09% | Medical Specialties | 90% |
| West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. | WST, +1.20% | Medical Specialties | 88% |
| Synopsys Inc. | SNPS, +0.91% | Software | 86% |
| Catalent Inc. | CTLT, +0.85% | Pharmaceuticals: Other | 85% |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL, -0.77% | Telecommunications Equipment | 81% |
| Quanta Services Inc. | PWR, +1.31% | Engineering & Construction | 77% |
| Rollins Inc. | ROL, +2.14% | Other Consumer Services | 77% |
| Amazon.com Inc. | AMZN, -0.88% | Internet Retail | 76% |
| Source: FactSet | |||
Click on the tickers for more about each company, including news coverage, profiles, price ratios, ratings and charts.
Nasdaq-100
The Nasdaq-100 leapt a whopping 47.6% in 2020, while the full Nasdaq Composite Index rose 43.7%. Like the S&P 500, the Nasdaq and Nasdaq-100 are weighted by market capitalization, which means big tech names have driven the indexes’ strong performance.
Here are the 20 best-performing stocks of 2020 among the Nasdaq-100:
| Company | Ticker | Industry | Price change – 2020 |
| Tesla Inc. | TSLA, +1.57% | Motor Vehicles | 743% |
| Moderna Inc. | MRNA, -5.99% | Biotechnology | 434% |
| Peloton Interactive Inc. Class A | PTON, -2.09% | Other Consumer Services | 434% |
| Zoom Video Communications Inc. Class A | ZM, -4.55% | Software | 396% |
| Pinduoduo Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A | PDD, -0.80% | Internet Retail | 370% |
| DocuSign Inc. | DOCU, -1.59% | Software | 200% |
| MercadoLibre Inc. | MELI, -2.20% | Internet Software/Services | 193% |
| Okta Inc. Class A | OKTA, -2.40% | Software | 120% |
| Nvidia Corp. | NVDA, -0.69% | Semiconductors | 122% |
| PayPal Holdings Inc. | PYPL, +1.16% | Data Processing Services | 117% |
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | AMD, -0.63% | Semiconductors | 100% |
| Cadence Design Systems Inc. | CDNS, +0.87% | Software | 97% |
| Atlassian Corp. PLC Class A | TEAM, -0.07% | Software | 94% |
| Idexx Laboratories Inc. | IDXX, +0.59% | Medical Specialties | 91% |
| Align Technology Inc. | ALGN, +1.92% | Medical Specialties | 92% |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL, -0.77% | Telecommunications Equipment | 81% |
| Synopsys Inc. | SNPS, +0.91% | Software | 86% |
| Amazon.com Inc. | AMZN, -0.88% | Internet Retail | 76% |
| Marvell Technology Group Ltd. | MRVL, +0.08% | Semiconductors | 79% |
| T-Mobile US Inc. | TMUS, +1.18% | Wireless Telecommunications | 72% |
| Source: FactSet | |||
The good, old Dow
By comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added a relatively paltry 7.2% in 2020. Three changes were made to the 30-stock index on Aug: 31:
• Salesforce.com Inc. CRM, +0.06% was added, replacing Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, -0.91%
• Honewell International Inc. HON, +0.83% replaced Raytheon Technologies Corp. RTX, +0.21%.
• Amgen Inc. AMGN, +1.21% replaced Pfizer Inc. PFE, +0.19%.
Here’s how all 30 current components of the Dow performed in 2020:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – 2020 |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL, -0.77% | 81% |
| Microsoft Corp. | MSFT, +0.33% | 41% |
| Nike Inc. Class B | NKE, -0.08% | 40% |
| Salesforce.com Inc. | CRM, +0.06% | 37% |
| Walt Disney Co. | DIS, +0.01% | 25% |
| Caterpillar Inc. | CAT, +1.10% | 23% |
| Home Depot Inc. | HD, +0.14% | 22% |
| Walmart Inc. | WMT, -0.02% | 21% |
| Honeywell International Inc. | HON, +0.83% | 20% |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. | UNH, +1.65% | 19% |
| Visa Inc. Class A | V, +0.17% | 16% |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | GS, +1.64% | 15% |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | PG, +0.99% | 11% |
| McDonald’s Corp. | MCD, +1.43% | 9% |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ, +0.85% | 8% |
| Travelers Cos. Inc. | TRV, +0.93% | 2% |
| Dow Inc. | DOW, +0.05% | 1% |
| Coca-Cola Co. | KO, +0.73% | -1% |
| 3M Co. | MMM, +0.39% | -1% |
| American Express Co. | AXP, +1.24% | -3% |
| Verizon Communications Inc. | VZ, +1.05% | -4% |
| Amgen Inc. | AMGN, +1.21% | -5% |
| International Business Machines Corp. | IBM, +1.24% | -6% |
| Cisco Systems Inc. | CSCO, +0.61% | -7% |
| J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. | JPM, +1.36% | -9% |
| Merck & Co. Inc. | MRK, +1.50% | -10% |
| Intel Corp. | INTC, +2.19% | -17% |
| Chevron Corp. | CVX, -1.03% | -30% |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc | WBA, +1.37% | -32% |
| Boeing Co. | BA, -1.20% | -34% |
| Source: FactSet | ||
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