After a whipsaw end to the month, the stock market's decline was highlighted by the worst month for chip stocks in 24 years
These four technology stocks were all down 20% or more during July - but all were still up by triple digits for 2026.
Updated with July 31 closing prices.
After a whipsaw end to the month, with a blowout earnings report from Microsoft followed by a bummer of a report from Apple, a painful decline for semiconductor stocks highlighted a tough July for the stock market.
Even with a 9% surge in the last two days of the month, the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX, which holds stocks of 30 chip makers and associated companies, was down 22.1% for July. That made for the worst month for SOXX since it tumbled 23.3% in December 2002, according to FactSet data. But the ETF was still up 67.7% for 2026.
Meanwhile, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF IGV was up 4.4% for July, mainly on the strength of Microsoft's stock $(MSFT)$, which ran up 24.6% for the month, but was still down 3.9% for 2026. And the broader technology sector as tracked by the State Street Select Sector SPDR ETF XLK dropped 8% in July, made worse by the 7.4% selloff in Apple's stock $(AAPL)$ on Friday.
Memory-chip maker Micron Technology's stock $(MU)$ punctuated the seesaw end to the month. It soared 18.4% on Thursday but was down 5.9% on Friday and down 28.7% for the month.
With all the noise, the S&P 500 index SPX ended with a slight decline for the month, marking the first time it had a down July since 2014. The index had declined 1.1% in June.
The S&P 500's biggest losers and winners for July
Because of the dramatic decline for semiconductor stocks during most of July, we will first list the S&P 500's largest decliners for the month. Then, we'll list the biggest winners for the month among components of the index.
Here are the largest 20 decliners among the S&P 500 during July:
Company July price change 2026 price change 2025 price change Sandisk -46.6% 411.8% N/A Corning -45.9% 57.9% 84.3% KLA -39.4% 50.5% 92.8% Marvell Technology -37.0% 120.7% -23.1% Intel -35.4% 144.4% 84.0% Coherent -33.4% 42.4% 94.8% Generac Holdings -32.7% 44.5% -12.0% Lam Research -32.4% 71.2% 137.0% Flex -29.8% 88.3% 57.4% Applied Materials -29.8% 97.5% 58.0% Micron Technology -28.7% 188.4% 239.1% Vertiv Holdings -27.9% 49.1% 42.6% Lennox International -27.4% -14.4% -20.3% Tesla -26.0% -30.8% 11.4% Builders FirstSource -25.7% -35.4% -28.0% Teradyne -24.0% 90.0% 53.7% Caterpillar -23.5% 42.2% 57.9% AppLovin -23.2% -41.2% 108.1% Ciena -23.1% 61.2% 175.8% Moderna -21.7% 85.9% -29.1% Source: LSEG
Sandisk $(SNDK)$ was the worst performer among the S&P 500 in July, with a decline of 46.6%, but it remained the best performer for 2026 with a gain of 411.8%. Among the stocks on this list of July's worst performers, Marvell Technology $(MRVL)$, Intel $(INTC)$ and Micron were also still showing triple-digit gains for the year.
Here are the S&P 500's biggest gainers for July:
Company July price change 2026 price change 2025 price change Cognizant Technology 42.9% -33.3% 7.9% Accenture 33.3% -38.2% -23.7% PayPal Holdings 32.5% -2.0% -31.6% Workday 31.0% -25.3% -16.8% Willis Towers Watson 28.5% 2.2% 4.9% Cboe Global Markets 27.8% 23.6% 28.5% Phillips 66 25.2% 64.0% 13.3% Microsoft 24.6% -3.9% 14.7% HP 24.3% 22.4% -31.7% DexCom 23.9% 25.7% -14.7% Intercontinental Exchange 23.9% -5.9% 8.7% Marathon Petroleum 23.8% 94.6% 16.6% Garmin 23.7% 44.8% -1.7% Baxter International 22.7% 36.9% -34.5% Regeneron Pharmaceuticals 22.3% -1.2% 8.4% Adobe 22.1% -28.5% -21.3% IQVIA Holdings 21.6% 4.3% 14.7% CME Group 21.3% -1.9% 17.6% Intuit 21.1% -52.3% 5.4% PTC 20.8% -21.2% -5.3% Source: LSEG
Click on the tickers for more information about each company.
Take a breath: Get ready to buy the dip in tech stocks. Why the recent selling won't break the bull market.
-Philip van Doorn