By Deep Dive: Wednesday’s worst-performing stocks mostly come from this one sector that has investors really worried
Consumer stocks were hit hard on May 18 as disappointing earnings reports from Target Corp. and Walmart Inc. led to double-digit declines for many retailers.
Market Snapshot: Dow skids 1,100 points and heads for worst day since June 2020 on stagflation fears, higher costs eroding profits
Shares of Target
TGT,
-24.93%
fell 25% after the company reported a 48% decline in earnings per share for its first fiscal quarter from the year-earlier quarter.
Read: Target stock plunges as profit drops on consumer spending shifts and jump in freight costs
Target’s disappointment came after Walmart reported a 24% decline in quarterly profit. Shares of the largest U.S. retailer fell 7% on May 18, following an 11% decline the previous day.
A contagion spread, with shares of Dollar Tree
DLTR,
-14.42%
dropping 14% even though the discount retailer isn’t scheduled to report its quarterly results until May 26.
The worst sector of 2022 is no longer tech
The consumer discretionary sector suffered a 6.6% decline in only one day and hit the trifecta for the worst performance of the session, for the first 13 trading days of May and for 2022.
Here’s a summary of how the 11 sectors of the benchmark S&P 500
SPX,
-4.04%
have performed this year:
S&P 500 sector
Price change – 2022
Price change – May
Price change – May 18
Consumer Discretionary
-30.8%
-12.4%
-6.6%
Communication Services
-27.0%
-1.3%
-3.4%
Information Technology
-24.5%
-6.9%
-4.7%
Real Estate
-19.3%
-10.0%
-2.9%
Financials
-15.2%
-4.0%
-2.8%
Industrials
-13.7%
-4.0%
-3.8%
Materials
-9.6%
-3.6%
-3.2%
Health Care
-9.4%
-1.9%
-2.6%
Consumer Staples
-7.3%
-8.0%
-6.4%
Utilities
-0.3%
0.2%
-1.0%
Energy
46.2%
8.0%
-2.8%
Full S&P 500
-17.7%
-5.0%
-4.0%
Source: FactSet
Stocks that fell the most on May 18
The S&P 500 slumped 4% on May 18 for its worst performance of 2022. Here are the 11 stocks in the benchmark index that fell more than 10% for the session:
Company
Ticker
Price change – May 18
Price change – May
Price change – 2022
Decline from 52-week high
Date of 52-week intraday high
Target Corp.
-24.9%
-29.3%
-30.2%
-39.9%
11/15/2021
Dollar Tree Inc.
-14.4%
-17.6%
-4.8%
-24.5%
04/21/2022
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.
-13.0%
-15.6%
-34.0%
-36.7%
12/07/2021
Tractor Supply Co.
-12.5%
-9.8%
-23.9%
-24.8%
03/31/2022
Costco Wholesale Corp.
-12.5%
-19.2%
-24.4%
-29.9%
04/07/2022
Dollar General Corp.
-11.1%
-14.8%
-14.2%
-22.9%
04/21/2022
Ulta Beauty Inc.
-10.8%
-11.7%
-15.0%
-20.1%
04/21/2022
Best Buy Co.
-10.5%
-15.9%
-25.6%
-46.7%
11/22/2021
J.M. Smucker Co.
-10.5%
-6.3%
-5.5%
-12.5%
05/09/2022
Etsy Inc.
-10.5%
-15.4%
-64.0%
-74.4%
11/26/2021
Newell Brands Inc.
-10.4%
-10.7%
-5.4%
-31.3%
05/10/2021
Source: FactSet
Click on the tickers for more about each company.
Read Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information for free on the MarketWatch quote page.
