The median S&P 500 stock is up just 5.7 percent this year, less than half of the S&P 500’s gain.
BY PHIL ROSEN, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, OPENING BELL MEDIA; CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, PROCAP FINANCIAL @PHILROSENN
Photo: Getty Images
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Stock pickers faced long odds in 2000 and then had a great run.
Today’s setup looks familiar. As of Thursday, 185 S&P 500 stocks were down in 2026 even as the index sits 13 percent higher year-to-date.
Only 191, or about 38 percent, are currently beating the benchmark.
Another way to put it is that the median S&P 500 stock is up just 5.7 percent this year, less than half of the S&P 500’s gain.
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Now, this pattern is not as novel as it might sound. In a note last week, JPMorgan strategist Michael Cembalest noted that just 30 percent of stocks are outperforming the market for one of the lowest figures since 1991.
The line below from Cembalest tracks the share of index members beating the S&P 500 over rolling three-year periods.
Much of the gap can be explained by AI.