Despite pessimistic remarks from the Fed regarding unemployment, the S&P 500 index reached its 29 month highs last Wednesday and eclipsed the 1300 mark, led by gains in tech and commodity stocks. Given the recent strong performance, we are taking a closer look at 25 best-performing companies and 25 worst-performing companies in the last 29 month. Within the list of companies with the best returns, we will provide a rating for each company to provide an outlook of which of the best performers from this rally still have some room to run and which have run out of steam. From the list of companies with the worst returns, we have identified some potential “fallen angels”, or great businesses that have fallen in price due to some temporary setback, but should return to profitability in the near future. Just as important, we have listed some companies that contain characteristics of a potential "Falling Knife", or stocks whose price has dropped considerably and is likely to continue to fall.
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All of the ratings given to the stocks on these two lists are developed and backed by The Applied Finance Group (AFG), and are constantly used to develop focus lists of companies that exhibit the following characteristics that determine whether we consider a company as an attractive investment opportunity or an unattractive investment opportunity…
• Intrinsic Value – Identifying the most undervalued companies
• Economic Profitability – What is the company earning above or below its true economic cost of capital
• Management Quality - Management Teams executing wealth creating strategies
Companies which rank highly according to the previously mentioned criteria have proven through back-tests to deliver superior returns over companies with poor ratings in those categories as seen in our Buy/Sell performance which takes into account these 3 main variables as well as other key criteria developed by AFG. This Buy/Sell list is used as a starting point for investors looking to add or trim positions from a portfolio as there is a significant spread achieved between companies that we label as buys and those that we label as sells.
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The companies listed below experienced the best/worst returns in the S&P 500 since September 2nd 2008, the last time the S&P 500 was above the 1300 threshold.
% Change
Investment
Ticker
Name
Sector
Since 9/2/2008
Opportunity
S&P 500 Companies With Best Returns Since Last High
(NASDAQ:AAPL)
APPLE INC.
Technology
102.2%
Attractive
(NASDAQ:BRCM)
BROADCOM CORPORATION
Technology
86.5%
Attractive
(NYSE:KMX)
CARMAX, INC.
Consumer Services
112.9%
Attractive
(NASDAQ:CERN)
CERNER CORPORATION
Health
110.1%
Attractive
(NYSE:COH)
COACH, INC.
Consumer Non Durable
81.8%
Attractive
(NASDAQ:ORLY)
O REILLY AUTOMOTIVE INC
Consumer Services
90.8%
Attractive
(NASDAQ:PCLN)
PRICELINE.COM INCORPORATED
Consumer Services
335.8%
Attractive
(NASDAQ:SNDK)
SANDISK CORPORATION
Technology
225.9%
Attractive
(NYSE:FTI)
FMC TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Capital Goods
87.0%
Neutral
(NYSE:F)
FORD MOTOR COMPANY
Consumer Durable
260.8%
Neutral
(NASDAQ:MU)
MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Technology
145.7%
Neutral
(NASDAQ:NVDA)
NVIDIA CORPORATION
Technology
92.9%
Neutral
(NYSE:Q)
QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATI
Technology
83.1%
Neutral
(NASDAQ:AKAM)
AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Miscellaneous
118.7%
Unattractive
(NASDAQ:AMZN)
AMAZON.COM, INC.
Consumer Services
110.2%
Unattractive
(NYSE:AN)
AUTONATION, INC.
Consumer Services
138.8%
Unattractive
(NASDAQ:CTXS)
CITRIX SYSTEMS, INC.
Technology
112.3%
Unattractive
(NASDAQ:CTSH)
COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS
Technology
145.1%
Unattractive
(NASDAQ:DISCA)
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS INCOR
Consumer Services
94.1%
Unattractive
(NASDAQ:NTAP)
NETAPP INCORPORATION
Technology
115.4%
Unattractive
(NASDAQ:NFLX)
NETFLIX INC
Consumer Services
606.8%
Unattractive
(NYSE:RHT)
RED HAT INCORPORATED
Technology
96.9%
Unattractive
(NYSE:CRM)
SALESFORCE.COM, INC.
Technology
138.6%
Unattractive
(NASDAQ:SBUX)
STARBUCKS CORPORATION
Consumer Services
101.6%
Unattractive
(NASDAQ:WFMI)
WHOLE FOODS MARKET, INC.
Consumer Services
173.7%
Unattractive
% Change
Investment
Ticker
Name
Sector
Since 9/2/2008
Opportunity
S&P 500 Companies With Worst Returns Since Last High
(NYSE:BAC)
BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION
Financials
-58.3%
Attractive
(NYSE:BSX)
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION
Health
-44.9%
Attractive
(NYSE:C)
CITIGROUP INC.
Financials
-75.3%
Attractive
(NYSE:CEG)
CONSTELLATION ENERGY GROUP, IN
Utilities
-51.3%
Attractive
(NYSE:EXC)
EXELON CORPORATION
Utilities
-43.4%
Attractive
(NYSE:FE)
FIRSTENERGY CORPORATION
Utilities
-45.6%
Attractive
(NYSE:GME)
GAMESTOP CORPORATION
Consumer Services
-53.8%
Attractive
(NYSE:HRB)
H&R BLOCK, INC.
Consumer Services
-51.1%
Attractive
(NYSE:HIG)
HARTFORD FINANCIAL SERVICES GR
Financials
-57.0%
Attractive
(NYSE:LNC)
LINCOLN NATIONAL CORPORATION
Financials
-43.6%
Attractive
(NYSE:WFR)
MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS, INC
Technology
-76.6%
Attractive
(NASDAQ:ERTS)
ELECTRONIC ARTS, INC.
Technology
-69.4%
Neutral
(NYSE:JNS)
JANUS CAPITAL GROUP, INC.
Financials
-53.1%
Neutral
(NYSE:AKS)
AK STEEL HOLDING CORPORATION
Basic Material
-67.5%
Unattractive
(NYSE:AA)
ALCOA INC.
Basic Material
-47.0%
Unattractive
(NYSE:AIG)
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP,
Financials
-90.8%
Unattractive
(NYSE:DF)
DEAN FOODS CO.
Consumer Non Durable
-58.9%
Unattractive
(NASDAQ:ETFC)
E*TRADE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
Financials
-49.7%
Unattractive
(NYSE:EK)
EASTMAN KODAK CO
Consumer Durable
-76.5%
Unattractive
(NYSE:MI)
MARSHALL & ILSLEY CORPORATION
Financials
-56.0%
Unattractive
(NYSE:PHM)
PULTEGROUP, INCORPORATION
Capital Goods
-45.3%
Unattractive
(NYSE:S)
SPRINT NEXTEL CORPORATION
Technology
-49.6%
Unattractive
(NYSE:SVU)
SUPERVALU INC.
Consumer Services
-69.7%
Unattractive
(NYSE:X)
UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATIO
Basic Material
-53.3%
Unattractive
(NYSE:VMC)
VULCAN MATERIALS COMPANY
Energy and Extraction
-44.6%
Unattractive
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