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Investors Business Daily
Investors Business Daily
Business
MATT KRANTZ

11 Stocks Are Taking Off Already — And The Year Just Started

The calendar just flipped to 2024 — and investors already have their favorite S&P 500 stocks. And none of them are the Big Tech giants that dominated in 2023.

Eleven S&P 500 stocks, including Moderna, Merck and Eli Lilly already gained 5% or more just this year, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSmith.

That's an especially impressive gain in just a few days especially when you consider the major indexes' poor start to the year. The S&P 500 is down 1.6% and Nasdaq 100 is off 3.1%, disappointing investors looking for an early year rally.

"Given the remarkable end to 2023, it's not particularly surprising that we're seeing a little profit-taking at this stage," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

Turning The S&P 500 On Its Head

Some of the best stocks this early in 2024 are the ones that suffered mightily in 2023.

Vaccine maker Moderna is a great example. The maker of advanced vaccines has seen its shares already jump 11.7% this year. That makes it the top S&P 500 stock so far. Talk about a turnaround: last year Moderna stock fell 44.6%, which meant it was the fourth-worst stock in 2023.

With 2023 being a year of vaccine withdrawal, investors were ready for a not-so-great year. Moderna's adjusted loss per share is seen swelling to $13.86 in 2023. That's a disappointing reversal from 2022, when it made a whopping $20.12 a share. But in 2024, analysts think Moderna will only lose $6.43 a share, or roughly half of 2023's loss. Enter optimism.

Health Care Champions

There's no question where investors are positioning themselves for 2024. Health care is the favored industry.

Of the 11 S&P 500 stocks up 5% or more this year, five(including Moderna) are in the health care sector. And it's not just smaller S&P 500 firms. Giant Merck has seen shares shoot up 7.5% this year so far. That sure beats its 1.7% decline in 2023.

And it's not just last year's laggards springing back, either. Thanks to its obesity and neurological treatments, shares of Eli Lilly are up 6.1% this year. That's on top of jumping 59.3% in 2023.

True to form, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF is up 2% this year. That's the largest gain by any of the 11 S&P 500 sectors. And tech? The Technology Select Sector SPDR is dead last with a year-to-date loss of 4.3%.

Talk about a reversal in a short period of time.

The Year Is Young

Top S&P 500 stocks in 2024 so far

Company Ticker Year-to-date % ch. Sector
Moderna 11.7% Health Care
Viatris 10.6% Health Care
Merck 7.5% Health Care
Allstate 7.1% Financials
Verizon Communications 6.6% Communication Services
Eli Lilly 6.1% Health Care
Citigroup 5.6% Financials
Amgen 5.2% Health Care
W. R. Berkley 5.1% Financials
Everest Group 5.0% Financials
Wynn Resorts 5.0% Consumer Discretionary
Sources: S&P Global Market Intelligence, MarketSmith as of Jan. 5, 2024
Follow Matt Krantz on X (Twitter) @mattkrantz  
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