In the worst year for stocks since the Great Recession, several big names are headed for their worst year on record with just one trading day left in 2022.
The S&P 500 index SPX, +1.75% and Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.05% are both headed for their worst year since 2008, with declines of 20.6% and 9.5% respectively through Thursday. But at least 19 big-name stocks — and half of another — are headed for a more ignominious title for 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data: Worst year ever.
Tesla Inc. TSLA, +8.08% is having the worst year among the group of S&P 1500 constituents with a market capitalization of $ 30 billion or higher headed for record annual percentage declines. Tesla shares have declined 65.4% so far this year, which would be easily the worst year on record for the popular stock, which has only had one previous negative year since going public in 2010, an 11% decline in 2016.
Tesla may not be the worst decliner on the list by the time 2023 arrives, however, as another Silicon Valley company is right on its heels. Meta Platforms Inc. META, +4.01%, the parent company of Facebook, has fallen 64.2% so far this year, as Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has stuck to spending billions to develop the “metaverse” even as the online-advertising industry that provides the bulk of his revenue has stagnated. It would also only be the second year in Facebook’s history that the stock has declined, after a 25.7% drop in 2018, though shares did end Facebook’s IPO year of 2012 30% lower than the original IPO price.
Only one other stock could contend with Tesla and Meta’s record declines this year, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has some familiarity with that company as well. PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL, +4.46%, where Musk first found fame during the dot-com boom, has declined 63.2% so far this year as executives have refocused the company on attracting and retaining high-value users instead of trying to get as many users as possible on the payments platform. It would be the second consecutive down year for PayPal, which had not experienced that before 2021 since spinning off from eBay Inc. EBAY, +4.76% in 2015.
None of the other companies headed for their worst year yet stand to lose more than half their value this year, though Charter Communications Inc. CHTR, +1.99% is close. The telecommunications company’s stock has declined 48.2% so far, as investors worry about plans to spend big in 2023 in an attempt to turn around declining internet-subscriber numbers.
In addition to the list below, Alphabet Inc.’s class C shares GOOG, +2.88% are having their worst year on record with a 38.4% decline. MarketWatch is not including that on the list, however, as Alphabet’s class A shares GOOGL, +2.82% fell 55.5% in 2008; the separate class of nonvoting shares was created in 2012 to allow the company — then still called Google — to continue issuing shares to employees without diluting the control of co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
Apart from that portion of Alphabet’s shares, here are the 19 large stocks headed for their worst year ever, based on Thursday’s closing prices.
| Company | % decline in 2022 |
| Tesla Inc. TSLA, +8.08% | 65.4% |
| Meta Platforms Inc. META, +4.01% | 64.2% |
| PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL, +4.46% | 62.6% |
| Charter Communications Inc. | 48.0% |
| Edwards Lifesciences Corp. EW, +2.87% | 41.9% |
| ServiceNow Inc. NOW, +3.67% | 39.9% |
| Zoetis Inc. ZTS, +3.00% | 39.3% |
| Fidelity National Information Services Inc. FIS, +2.03% | 37.8% |
| Accenture PLC ACN, +2.00% | 35.3% |
| Fortinet Inc. FTNT, +2.82% | 31.5% |
| Estee Lauder Cos. Inc. EL, +1.52% | 32.5% |
| Moderna Inc. MRNA, +1.34% | 29.6% |
| Iqvia Holdings Inc. IQV, +2.94% | 26.3% |
| Carrier Global Corp. CARR, +2.17% | 22.8% |
| Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. HLT, +1.63% | 19.2% |
| Broadcom Inc. AVGO, +2.37% | 16.2% |
| Arista Networks Inc. ANET, +2.27% | 15.2% |
| Dow Inc. DOW, +1.32% | 10.7% |
| Otis Worldwide Corp. OTIS, +2.16% | 9.2% |