Here's how investors can capitalize on the S&P 500's bad breadth
The S&P 500 has risen 15% over the past year, but 44% of its component stocks are down at least 20% from their 52-week highs.
The S&P 500 was trading within 2 percentage points of its record closing high on Tuesday. But if you dig a bit deeper, things are looking far less rosy.
While strong performance from a minority of highflying artificial-intelligence names has helped to limit losses at the index level, a MarketWatch analysis found that more than 40% of stocks in the index were trading at least 20% below their 52-week highs as of Monday's close. That means nearly half of the constituents in the S&P 500 are technically trading in bear-market territory, as the gap between the stock market's winners and losers has continued to widen.
Nearly half of the stocks in the S&P 500 are in bear-market territory.
By some measures, the number of stocks helping to drive the S&P 500 higher hasn't been this low since around the peak of the dot-com bubble. Other indicators put this at the weakest breadth since the spring 2025 stock-market tariff tantrum. Only then, the index was much lower than it is today.
Selloffs can present an opportunity for investors, and those worried that the AI trade might be due for a painful reversal can simply rotate some of their cash into corners of the market that have been hard-hit lately. There are plenty of opportunities to choose from, including restaurants, biotech firms, professional-services companies and some software names.
Below, MarketWatch has prepared a couple of screens that might help investors identify potential bargains.
Biggest losers
As of Monday's close, 17 stocks in the S&P 500 were down by 50%, or more, from their 52-week intraday high.
Company Decline from 52-week high Sept. 28 closing price 52-week intraday high Date of 52-week intraday high CoStar Group -68.3% $27.02 $85.24 10/06/2025 Fiserv -64.8% $46.02 $130.64 09/29/2025 Insulet -62.5% $133.11 $354.88 11/20/2025 Intuit -61.7% $269.40 $703.96 09/29/2025 Charter Communications -61.0% $111.40 $285.82 09/30/2025 Oracle -58.9% $132.60 $322.54 10/16/2025 AppLovin -58.7% $308.24 $745.61 09/29/2025 Boston Scientific -58.2% $44.11 $105.65 11/13/2025 Fair Isaac -57.9% $840.89 $1,998.01 10/02/2025 Lululemon Athletica -55.5% $100.58 $225.98 12/18/2025 Rollins -53.7% $30.59 $66.14 02/11/2026 Pentair -53.5% $53.03 $113.95 10/03/2025 Nike -52.7% $36.39 $76.97 10/02/2025 Coinbase Global -52.3% $191.79 $402.16 10/10/2025 Zoetis -52.0% $71.43 $148.79 10/03/2025 Albemarle -51.4% $107.39 $221.00 05/07/2026 Fidelity National Information Services -50.4% $34.31 $69.14 10/07/2025 Source: FactSet
CoStar $(CSGP)$, which tops the list, is a good example of a business model that some investors believe is threatened by the adoption of generative AI. The company runs an online marketplace for commercial real estate across global developed markets. It also claims to provide more information about the CRE space than any of its competitors.
One clue that the precipitous drop might be getting overdone: The company has continued to report double-digit year-over-year revenue growth. Second-quarter revenue, the most recent data available, was up 18% from the year-earlier quarter.
Poised for a comeback
Wall Street analysts are often accused of having a bullish bias, but their ratings for hard-hit stocks can sometimes offer a helpful starting point. Of the 212 S&P 500 stocks trading in bear-market territory, 63 are of them are rated a buy or the equivalent by at least 75% of analysts polled by FactSet who cover those stocks.
Among these 63 stocks, here are the 20 analysts expect will put in fresh highs over the next 12 months. The list even includes some erstwhile AI darlings, like Broadcom and Vistra.
Company 12-month upside potential implied by price target Consensus price target Sept. 28 closing price Decline from 52-week high 52-week intraday high NRG Energy 100% $194.20 $97.00 -48.9% $189.96 CRH 60% $134.39 $83.75 -36.3% $131.55 Vistra 60% $221.00 $138.02 -36.4% $217.10 Broadcom 53% $533.94 $349.57 -29.4% $495.00 Tapestry 52% $172.61 $113.45 -31.2% $164.80 Howmet Aerospace 49% $340.05 $228.32 -26.3% $310.00 Uber Technologies 49% $101.35 $68.16 -32.7% $101.30 Boeing 48% $273.21 $184.39 -27.5% $254.35 Take-Two Interactive Software 46% $294.88 $202.35 -23.9% $265.94 Booking Holdings 46% $238.80 $163.87 -27.2% $225.00 T-Mobile US 45% $241.63 $166.45 -30.9% $240.95 Qnity Electronics 44% $179.88 $124.91 -29.5% $177.28 United Airlines Holdings 42% $158.82 $111.51 -19.6% $138.77 CBRE Group 42% $185.64 $130.35 -25.2% $174.27 Monolithic Power Systems 37% $1,853.36 $1,351.20 -21.2% $1,714.09 Emcor Group 35% $1,033.29 $765.52 -19.6% $951.96 Jabil 35% $429.60 $318.93 -25.6% $428.93 Synopsys 34% $560.72 $417.61 -22.6% $539.48 Comfort Systems USA 32% $2,197.00 $1,658.30 -20.0% $2,073.99 Capital One Financial 32% $259.76 $196.46 -24.3% $259.64 Source: FactSet
Click on the tickers for more about each company.
The S&P 500 SPX was up 12.2% for 2026 through Monday's close and it was up 15.3% over the past 12 months, excluding dividends. That's not too bad when considering that the index has had an average annual return, including reinvested dividends, of 10.4% over the past 30 years, according to FactSet.
MW You might be shocked by how many stocks are in a bear market right now
By Philip van Doorn and Joseph Adinolfi
Here's how investors can capitalize on the S&P 500's bad breadth
The S&P 500 has risen 15% over the past year, but 44% of its component stocks are down at least 20% from their 52-week highs.
The S&P 500 was trading within 2 percentage points of its record closing high on Tuesday. But if you dig a bit deeper, things are looking far less rosy.
While strong performance from a minority of highflying artificial-intelligence names has helped to limit losses at the index level, a MarketWatch analysis found that more than 40% of stocks in the index were trading at least 20% below their 52-week highs as of Monday's close. That means nearly half of the constituents in the S&P 500 are technically trading in bear-market territory, as the gap between the stock market's winners and losers has continued to widen.
Nearly half of the stocks in the S&P 500 are in bear-market territory.
By some measures, the number of stocks helping to drive the S&P 500 higher hasn't been this low since around the peak of the dot-com bubble. Other indicators put this at the weakest breadth since the spring 2025 stock-market tariff tantrum. Only then, the index was much lower than it is today.
Selloffs can present an opportunity for investors, and those worried that the AI trade might be due for a painful reversal can simply rotate some of their cash into corners of the market that have been hard-hit lately. There are plenty of opportunities to choose from, including restaurants, biotech firms, professional-services companies and some software names.
Below, MarketWatch has prepared a couple of screens that might help investors identify potential bargains.
Biggest losers
As of Monday's close, 17 stocks in the S&P 500 were down by 50%, or more, from their 52-week intraday high.
Company Decline from 52-week high Sept. 28 closing price 52-week intraday high Date of 52-week intraday high
CoStar Group -68.3% $27.02 $85.24 10/06/2025
Fiserv -64.8% $46.02 $130.64 09/29/2025
Insulet -62.5% $133.11 $354.88 11/20/2025
Intuit -61.7% $269.40 $703.96 09/29/2025
Charter Communications -61.0% $111.40 $285.82 09/30/2025
Oracle -58.9% $132.60 $322.54 10/16/2025
AppLovin -58.7% $308.24 $745.61 09/29/2025
Boston Scientific -58.2% $44.11 $105.65 11/13/2025
Fair Isaac -57.9% $840.89 $1,998.01 10/02/2025
Lululemon Athletica -55.5% $100.58 $225.98 12/18/2025
Rollins -53.7% $30.59 $66.14 02/11/2026
Pentair -53.5% $53.03 $113.95 10/03/2025
Nike -52.7% $36.39 $76.97 10/02/2025
Coinbase Global -52.3% $191.79 $402.16 10/10/2025
Zoetis -52.0% $71.43 $148.79 10/03/2025
Albemarle -51.4% $107.39 $221.00 05/07/2026
Fidelity National Information Services -50.4% $34.31 $69.14 10/07/2025
Source: FactSet
CoStar (CSGP), which tops the list, is a good example of a business model that some investors believe is threatened by the adoption of generative AI. The company runs an online marketplace for commercial real estate across global developed markets. It also claims to provide more information about the CRE space than any of its competitors.
One clue that the precipitous drop might be getting overdone: The company has continued to report double-digit year-over-year revenue growth. Second-quarter revenue, the most recent data available, was up 18% from the year-earlier quarter.
Poised for a comeback
Wall Street analysts are often accused of having a bullish bias, but their ratings for hard-hit stocks can sometimes offer a helpful starting point. Of the 212 S&P 500 stocks trading in bear-market territory, 63 are of them are rated a buy or the equivalent by at least 75% of analysts polled by FactSet who cover those stocks.
Among these 63 stocks, here are the 20 analysts expect will put in fresh highs over the next 12 months. The list even includes some erstwhile AI darlings, like Broadcom and Vistra.
Company 12-month upside potential implied by price target Consensus price target Sept. 28 closing price Decline from 52-week high 52-week intraday high NRG Energy 100% $194.20 $97.00 -48.9% $189.96 CRH 60% $134.39 $83.75 -36.3% $131.55 Vistra 60% $221.00 $138.02 -36.4% $217.10 Broadcom 53% $533.94 $349.57 -29.4% $495.00 Tapestry 52% $172.61 $113.45 -31.2% $164.80 Howmet Aerospace 49% $340.05 $228.32 -26.3% $310.00 Uber Technologies 49% $101.35 $68.16 -32.7% $101.30 Boeing 48% $273.21 $184.39 -27.5% $254.35 Take-Two Interactive Software 46% $294.88 $202.35 -23.9% $265.94 Booking Holdings 46% $238.80 $163.87 -27.2% $225.00 T-Mobile US 45% $241.63 $166.45 -30.9% $240.95 Qnity Electronics 44% $179.88 $124.91 -29.5% $177.28 United Airlines Holdings 42% $158.82 $111.51 -19.6% $138.77 CBRE Group 42% $185.64 $130.35 -25.2% $174.27 Monolithic Power Systems 37% $1,853.36 $1,351.20 -21.2% $1,714.09 Emcor Group 35% $1,033.29 $765.52 -19.6% $951.96 Jabil 35% $429.60 $318.93 -25.6% $428.93 Synopsys 34% $560.72 $417.61 -22.6% $539.48 Comfort Systems USA 32% $2,197.00 $1,658.30 -20.0% $2,073.99 Capital One Financial 32% $259.76 $196.46 -24.3% $259.64 Source: FactSet
Click on the tickers for more about each company.
The S&P 500 SPX was up 12.2% for 2026 through Monday's close and it was up 15.3% over the past 12 months, excluding dividends. That's not too bad when considering that the index has had an average annual return, including reinvested dividends, of 10.4% over the past 30 years, according to FactSet.