MW These 20 stocks in the S&P 500 fell hardest during March
By Philip van Doorn
The worst performers included cosmetics companies, cruise operators, airlines and Paramount Skydance, which was down 34% for the month
These stocks are among the worst performers of the S&P 500 during March.
U.S. stock indexes were in the green early on Tuesday as we near the end of March. But this has been a month of broad and sharp declines since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
In early trading, the S&P 500 SPX was up 1.2% on Tuesday but down 6.6% on the month. Among the components of the large-cap U.S. benchmark index, 87% showed declines for March. There were 183 stocks in the S&P 500 with declines of at least 10% for the month and 62 down at least 15.0% during March.
All price changes in this article exclude dividends. Here is how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 fared, based on the price action early Tuesday:
Sector or index Price change during March 2026 price change 2025 price change
Industrials -10.2% 2.4% 17.7%
Communication services -9.8% -9.6% 32.4%
Healthcare -9.0% -6.1% 12.5%
Materials -7.9% 8.3% 8.4%
Real estate -7.5% 0.9% -0.3%
Consumer staples -7.4% 7.3% 1.3%
Consumer discretionary -7.1% -10.6% 5.3%
Information technology -6.5% -11.7% 23.3%
Financial -4.8% -10.9% 13.3%
Utilities -3.8% 7.1% 12.7%
Energy 12.6% 40.0% 5.0%
S&P 500 -6.6% -6.2% 16.4%
Source: LSEG
It is no surprise that the energy sector was the only one to show a gain for the month, with the flow of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz disrupted by Iran. Oil hasn't been the only affected fuel commodity. Qatar, which was the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas before the Iran conflict began, temporarily ceased all of its gas exports after two of its 14 "trains" used to purify and cool natural gas for transport were damaged by Iranian missiles.
Continuous front-month contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude oil (CL00) were trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange for $103.18 a barrel early Tuesday, up 54% from a settlement price of $67.02 on Feb. 27 and up 80% from a settlement price of $57.42 on Dec. 31.
Read: Here's the long-term case for investing in producers of oil and natural gas
The materials sector was down 7.9% for March. Front-month contracts for Gold (GC00) were trading for $4,619.20 an ounce early Tuesday, down 12% from a settlement price of $5.247.90 on Feb. 27. Gold was still up 6.4% from a settlement price of $4,341.10 at the end of 2025.
Mining stocks: Gold's tumble has created opportunities to buy these stocks at bargain prices
Worst performers for the month among the S&P 500
Here are the 20 stocks in the S&P 500 showing the largest declines during March, based on prices early on Tuesday:
Company Price change during March 2026 price change 2025 price changeIndustry Estée Lauder -36.3% -33.5% 39.7%Personal products Paramount Skydance -34.5% -34.0% 28.1%Entertainment production Super Micro Computer -33.6% -26.5% -4.0%Computer hardware McCormick -31.3% -28.4% -10.7%Food processing Centene -27.7% -21.2% -32.1%Managed healthcare Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings -26.8% -18.7% -13.3%Hotels, motels & cruise lines Southwest Airlines -24.8% -10.4% 22.9%Airlines Fair Isaac -24.7% -37.2% -15.1%Software Ulta Beauty -24.3% -14.3% 39.1%Miscellaneous specialty retailers Sysco Corp -23.7% -5.6% -3.6%Food retail & distribution Dollar General -23.6% -10.1% 75.1%Discount stores Axon Enterprise -22.9% -26.4% -4.4%Aerospace & defense Lennar -22.9% -14.2% -22.1%Home building Builders FirstSource -22.5% -21.4% -28.0%Construction supplies & fixtures Carnival -21.8% -19.2% 22.6%Hotels, motels & cruise lines Micron Technology -21.6% 13.3% 239.1%Semiconductors Baxter International -21.0% -15.8% -34.5%Medical equipment, supplies & distribution Amcor -20.5% -7.6% -11.4%Non-paper containers & packaging Ford Motor -20.4% -14.6% 32.5%Auto & truck manufacturers NRG Energy -20.3% -10.4% 76.5%Electric utilities Source: LSEG
Click on the tickers for more about each company.
Read: A detailed guide to the information available on the MarketWatch quote page
Estée Lauder $(EL)$ has been the worst performer among the S&P 500 during March, with a 36.3% decline. The company said on March 23 that it had been discussing a possible merger with Puig Brands, which is based in Spain.
Paramount Skydance $(PSKY)$ was the second-worst performer among the S&P 500 during March, with a 34.5% decline, as investors are reacting to the high price it had agreed to pay to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery $(WBD)$. Lukas I. Alpert reported on the coming vote for WBD shareholders on the deal and possible regulatory scrutiny of the pending merger.
The third-worst performer with a 33.6% decline was Super Micro Computer $(SMCI)$, one of whose founders is facing federal charges of conspiring to ship servers illegally to China. According to the indictment, the servers included sophisticated graphics processing units that were made by Nvidia (NVDA) and banned by the federal government from being exported to China.
Sysco was down 23.7% for March. The stock fell 15% on Monday after the company agreed to pay $29 billion to acquire Jetro Restaurant Depot. Here's an explanation of why investors think Sysco is overpaying.
Another food deal: McCormick investors like the $44.8 billion Unilever Foods deal, even though there's a catch
Micron Technology $(MU)$ was down 21.6% for March, based on trading action early on Tuesday. It remained the cheapest stock in the S&P 500 on a forward price/earnings basis, with a P/E ratio of 4.1.
Reaction: Micron's stock bounces, as an analyst offers a reality check on the recent panic
Don't miss: This commodities strategy can protect you from inflation, scarcity and even price declines
-Philip van Doorn
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March 31, 2026 10:33 ET (14:33 GMT)
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