Slightly positive isn’t good enough for this stock market.
While market jitters on Feb. 22 were driven by Russia’s movement of troops into Ukraine, the U.S. stock market was also adjusting to the idea of some difficult financial comparisons ahead.
During the economic recovery that followed the early stage of the coronavirus pandemic, investors got used to seeing high growth numbers for sales and earnings year-over-year, as extra federal spending and low interest rates helped cause a spending boom.
But on Tuesday, Home Depot Inc. HD, -8.85% said it expected sales for fiscal 2022 to be “slightly positive” when compared to fiscal 2021 and for its earnings per share to grow in the “low single digits.”
That’s a far cry from the results for fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 31 that Home Depot also announced, including a 10.7% jump in sales from a year earlier and a 21% increase in earnings.
The home improvement retailer’s shares fell 8.9% for the session — the worst performer among the S&P 500 SPX, -1.01% as 76% of its components declined on the day.
Read: Home Depot sales reach record $ 150 billion but shares tumble as high inflation and lower demand expected to take a toll
The benchmark pulled back 1%. It’s now down 9.7% decline so far this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.42% was down 483 points (or 1.4%) to close at 33,596.61, for a year-to-date decline of 7.5%.
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -1.23% declined 1.2% for the day and has dropped 14.5% so far this year.
Here are the worst 20 performers on Feb. 22 among the S&P 500:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – Feb. 22 | Price change – 2022 | Decline from 52-week high | Date of 52-week high |
| Home Depot Inc. | HD | -8.9% | -23.8% | -24.8% | 12/06/2021 |
| Best Buy Co. Inc. | BBY, -7.33% | -7.3% | -10.9% | -36.2% | 11/22/2021 |
| Tractor Supply Co. | TSCO, -6.45% | -6.5% | -16.0% | -16.5% | 01/03/2022 |
| Mohawk Industries Inc. | MHK, -5.63% | -5.6% | -23.2% | -39.6% | 05/10/2021 |
| Advance Auto Parts Inc. | AAP, -5.50% | -5.5% | -13.8% | -15.5% | 01/05/2022 |
| Pool Corp. | POOL, -5.43% | -5.4% | -24.0% | -26.1% | 11/19/2021 |
| Discovery Inc. Class A | -5.3% | 20.1% | -63.8% | 03/19/2021 | |
| NetApp Inc. | NTAP, -5.26% | -5.3% | -6.4% | -11.1% | 01/14/2022 |
| Enphase Energy Inc. | ENPH, -5.22% | -5.2% | -27.3% | -52.9% | 11/22/2021 |
| Wynn Resorts Ltd. | WYNN, -4.94% | -4.9% | 4.1% | -38.5% | 03/15/2021 |
| Boeing Co. | BA, -4.92% | -4.9% | -1.3% | -28.7% | 03/15/2021 |
| Etsy Inc. | ETSY, -4.68% | -4.7% | -44.6% | -60.6% | 11/26/2021 |
| SolarEdge Technologies Inc. | SEDG, -4.59% | -4.6% | -12.3% | -36.9% | 11/22/2021 |
| Norfolk Southern Corp. | NSC, -4.39% | -4.4% | -13.2% | -13.7% | 12/31/2021 |
| Pioneer Natural Resources Co. | PXD, -4.36% | -4.4% | 22.7% | -7.4% | 02/22/2022 |
| CarMax Inc. | KMX, -4.23% | -4.2% | -22.3% | -35.1% | 11/08/2021 |
| Generac Holdings Inc. | GNRC, -4.17% | -4.2% | -19.7% | -46.1% | 11/02/2021 |
| Ford Motor Co. | F, -4.16% | -4.2% | -16.8% | -33.2% | 01/13/2022 |
| Deere & Co. | DE, -4.15% | -4.2% | 3.2% | -11.6% | 05/10/2021 |
| Tesla Inc. | TSLA, -4.14% | -4.1% | -22.3% | -33.9% | 11/04/2021 |
| Source: FactSet | |||||
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