Even during a year in which the S&P 500 index declined 19%, with 72% of its stocks in the red, there were plenty of winners.
Before showing you the list of the best performers in the benchmark index, let’s look at a preview: Here’s how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.25%
performed for the year:
Index
2022 price change
Forward P/E
Forward P/E as of Dec. 31, 2021
Energy
59.0%
9.7
11.1
Utilities
-1.4%
18.9
20.4
Consumer Staples
-3.2%
21.0
21.8
Health Care
-3.6%
17.6
17.2
Industrials
-7.1%
18.3
20.8
Financials
-12.4%
11.9
14.6
Materials
-14.1%
15.8
16.6
Real Estate
-28.4%
16.5
24.2
Information Technology
-28.9%
20.1
28.1
Consumer Discretionary
-37.6%
21.3
33.2
Communication Services
-40.4%
14.3
20.8
S&P 500
-19.4%
16.8
21.4
Source: FactSet
Maybe you aren’t surprised to see that the energy sector was the only one to increase during 2022. But it might surprise you to see that despite the sector’s weighted price increase of 59%, its forward price-to-earnings ratio declined and remains very low relative to all other sectors.
It might also surprise you that West Texas Intermediate crude oil
CL.1,
+2.69%
gave up most of its gains from earlier in the year:
FactSet
The reason investors are still confident in energy stocks is that oil producers have remained cautious when it comes to capital spending. They don’t want to increase supply enough to cause prices to crash, as they did in the run-up to the summer of 2014, after which prices fell steadily through early 2016, causing bankruptcies and consolidation in the industry.
Now the oil companies are focusing on maintaining supply, raising dividends and buying back shares, as Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s
OXY,
+1.14%
chief executive explained in a recent interview with Matt Peterson. Click here for more about Occidental and the long-term supply/demand outlook for oil.
Best-performing S&P 500 stocks of 2022
Here are the 20 stocks in the benchmark index that rose most during 2022, excluding dividends. Proving that there are always exceptions, not all of them are in the energy sector.
Company
Ticker
Sector
Industry
2022 price change
Occidental Petroleum Corp.
Energy
Oil & Gas Production
117.3%
Hess Corp.
Energy
Oil & Gas Production
91.6%
Marathon Petroleum Corp.
Energy
Oil Refining/ Marketing
81.9%
Exxon Mobil Corp.
Energy
Integrated Oil
80.3%
Schlumberger Ltd.
Energy
Contract Drilling
78.5%
APA Corp.
Energy
Integrated Oil
73.6%
Halliburton Co.
Energy
Oil & Gas Production
72.1%
First Solar Inc.
Information Technology
Semiconductors
71.9%
Valero Energy Corp.
Energy
Oil Refining/ Marketing
68.9%
Marathon Oil Corp.
Energy
Oil & Gas Production
64.9%
ConocoPhillips
Energy
Oil & Gas Production
63.5%
Steel Dynamics Inc.
Materials
Steel
57.4%
EQT Corp.
Energy
Oil & Gas Production
55.1%
Chevron Corp.
Energy
Integrated Oil
53.0%
McKesson Corp.
Health Care
Medical Distributors
50.9%
Cardinal Health Inc.
Health Care
Medical Distributors
49.3%
EOG Resources Inc.
Energy
Oil & Gas Production
45.8%
Enphase Energy Inc.
Information Technology
Semiconductors
44.8%
Merck & Co. Inc.
Health Care
Pharmaceuticals
44.8%
Cigna Corp.
Health Care
Managed Health Care
44.3%
Source: FactSet
Click on the tickers for more information about the companies.
Click here for Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information available for free on the MarketWatch quote page.
Don’t Miss: These 20 stocks were the biggest losers of 2022
