2024’s Worst S&P 500 Stocks So Far From Boeing To Intel

The drug store chain Walgreens was the worst-performing company on the S&P 500, the benchmark which tracks the share prices of 500 of the largest U.S.-listed public companies, over the first six months of the year, as Walgreens’ share price halved and hit their lowest level since the mid-1990s, a dive coinciding with the company’s plans to shut up to a quarter of its locations as analysts forecast Walgreens’ worst annual profit since 2013.

Lululemon, the high-end athletic wear firm, is the second-worst-performing stock year-to-date on the S&P, as analysts expect the retailer to post its worst annual revenue growth since Lululemon went public in 2007, other than the fiscal year ending Jan. 2021 weighed down by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intel, the third-worst performer on the S&P, is perhaps the most surprising loser considering rival Nvidia and other silicon chip companies are among the best-returning investments this year during the AI fever, with Intel shares largely a victim of an extended decline in the company’s business as competition swelled, with some analysts going so far as to declare Intel a “broken company.”

Intel’s $1.8 billion first-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization mark its second-worst Q1 figure dating back to at least 2000, an improvement from last year’s $962 million EBITDA but an 82% decline from Q1 2020’s $10.3 billion; for reference, Nvidia’s spring quarter net earnings grew from $1.1 billion to $17.3 billion from 2020 to 2024.

Boeing, the S&P’s 10th-lowest returner, is certainly not a shocking faller: Its stock market woes came as the aerospace firm grappled with a big public relations nightmare after several of its commercial aircrafts malfunctioned, launching a Justice Department probe, a congressional hearing focused on its struggles and its worst quarterly revenues in eight quarters this spring, all frustrating investors with Boeing on a five-year streak of negative profits.

It’s been far from a picture-perfect 2024 for shares of entertainment giants Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global, the fifth- and 12th-biggest losers on the S&P, respectively, as both HBO parent WBD and CBS parent Paramount contended with shaky balance sheets— WBD and Paramount reported $966 million and $563 million respective net losses during Q1—far worse than Wall Street’s Hollywood favorite Netflix’s $2.2 billion net income.

Negative headlines similar drove down the entertainment conglomerates, and WBD’s expected loss of NBA rights caused a 10% single-day selloff April 30, while Paramount’s stock plunged 8% on June 11 after it ended talks of a sale to Skydance Media, which is run by centibillionaire Larry Ellison’s son David Ellison.