Wall Street 2023: Stock Market Winners and Losers

The recap of 2023 stock market winners and losers is a tale of highs and lows. Entering 2023 after a Fed tightening cycle proved restrictive but seemingly unsuccessful as inflation continued while rates rose. Those factors began squeezing consumers and commercial segments to apparent breaking points. But a rapid reversal transpired in mid-fall, with inflation falling and calls for a soft landing seeming more viable.

The U.S. stock market was not affected by inflation, high interest rates, the bankruptcy crisis that struck a small number of U.S. banks, and geopolitical tensions around the world. That uptick accelerated in December amid rumors of imminent rate cuts, and markets climbed back to all-time highs offering bulls an early Christmas present while acting as coal in perma-bears’ stockings.

U.S. indexes rise

Though the 2023 stock market is ending the year on a high note, there are some stock market winners and some losers. Some companies did better than most but others couldn’t ride the wave back up and might not make it through 2024 intact.

All three major indexes on the New York Stock Exchange recorded gains during the current year. The influx of investors into technology stocks supported that growth. The emergence of generative AI has likewise increasingly played an important role in the economy.

Since the beginning of 2023, the S&P 500 recorded a 24.4 percent increase. That’s more than twice the index’s typical annual return.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded a 13.3 percent increase. Additionally, the technology-dominated Nasdaq Composite recorded a 44 percent increase, putting it on track for top performance annually since 2020. However, it is crucial to take into account that these percentages are subject to change by the end of the last trading day of 2023.

Top performing stocks on Wall Street

Technology stocks were the top-performing stocks on Wall Street this year, reclaiming their gains in 2023 after sharp losses in 2022. They were supported by the so-called mega technology stocks, led by Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Tesla. All of them consolidated the gains of the S&P 500 index so far this year. And there were some huge gains. Both Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL) each added nearly $1 trillion in market value in just one year.

According to Bloomberg, at the end of 2022, experts expected that the S&P 500 index would end 2023 at 4,078 points. In fact, the index has exceeded 4,700 points at present. It recorded gains of more than 22 percent, which means that the expectations were completely far-fetched and exceeded the state of pessimism that prevailed when they were released.

Best Wall Street stocks 2023

As per George Khoury, global head of education and research at CFI Group the top-performing stocks on Wall Street this year are:

Carvana (CVNA): The leading online used car sales company announced an impressive growth of 1,082% in its stock price from the beginning of 2023 to date. Strong net income in the third quarter of 2023, which amounted to $741 million supported this growth.

ImmunoGen Inc. (IMGN): ImmunoGen’s stock grew by approximately 581.7% since the beginning of 2023.

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (MLTX): MoonLake witnessed strong growth since the beginning of 2023, amounting to 478.2$.

Riot Platforms Inc. (RIOT): Riot is a Bitcoin mining company whose stocks rose by 442.2% during 2023.  It benefited from the recovery in the cryptocurrency market to achieve its remarkable growth.

BridgeBio Pharma Inc. (BBIO): BridgeBio is a company that specializes in treating hereditary diseases and cancers. Its stock has grown by 406.8% since the beginning of 2023.

Symbotic Inc. (SYM): Symbotic witnessed a remarkable growth of 341.9% since the beginning of 2023. The company met the needs of key customers such as Walmart, Albertsons, and C&S Wholesale Grocers, which contributed to its revenue growth of 60% in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Affirm Holdings Inc. (AFRM): Affirm Holdings is the leading provider of buy now, pay later services. It has achieved strong growth since the beginning of the year, reaching 341.8%.

AppLovin Corp. (APP):  It achieved a growth of 318.9% since the beginning of 2023. AppLovin is a global company specializing in providing mobile application technology.

Stocks shedding the most in 2023

As there were 2023 stock market winners, so were there some losers. Investors lost $462 billion holding just eight stocks dropping the most market value this year, including ailing vaccine maker Pfizer (PFE), struggling oil giant Chevron (CVX) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). Each of these stocks shed more than $30 billion apiece just this year more than any other in the S&P 500, as per analysis’s.

Stark division between 2023 stock market winners and losers

The division between the losers and winners is stark this year. “This year’s excellent S&P 500 returns have been concentrated in just three Big Tech-heavy sectors,” said Nick Colas of DataTrek Research.

Suffering losses this year hurts all the more as the S&P 500 had such a good year.

Biggest S&P 500 Market Value Losers in 2023 year-to-date

Bracing for 2024

This year serves up another remind of the importance of cutting losses on your losing stocks before they get too big. This move can make a life-changing amount of difference.

It’s a good lesson to learn before 2024.