Investors in the U.S. stock market may feel spoiled after two excellent years for the S&P 500, but it can be useful to take a more detailed look at the performance of the large-cap U.S. benchmark index.
The S&P 500 .8% for 2024 through Monday, following a 24.2% increase in 2023. All price changes in this article exclude dividends. Price changes are adjusted for stock splits.
To add perspective, don’t forget that the index fell 19.4% in 2021. So from the end of 2021 through Monday, the S&P 500 was up 23.9%.
Here are price changes (weighted, as is the full index, by market capitalization) for the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 through the close on Monday.
| Sector or index | 2024 price change through Dec. 30 | 2023 price change | 2022 price change | Price change since end of 2021 |
| Communication services | 39.9% | 54.4% | -40.4% | 28.7% |
| Information technology | 37.1% | 56.4% | -28.9% | 52.4% |
| Consumer discretionary | 30.4% | 41.0% | -37.6% | 14.8% |
| Financials | 28.3% | 9.9% | -12.4% | 23.7% |
| Utilities | 19.7% | -10.2% | -1.4% | 6.0% |
| Industrials | 15.8% | 16.0% | -7.1% | 24.8% |
| Consumer staples | 11.8% | -2.2% | -3.2% | 6.0% |
| Real estate | 1.0% | 8.3% | -28.4% | -21.8% |
| Energy | 0.9% | -4.8% | 59.0% | 52.8% |
| Healthcare | 0.7% | 0.3% | -3.6% | -2.6% |
| Materials | -2.2% | 10.2% | -14.1% | -7.3% |
| S&P 500 | 23.8% | 24.2% | -19.4% | 23.9% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
The communications-services sector was in the lead for 2024 through the second-to-last day of the year, ahead of information technology. Then again, this year’s top three sectors are all heavily weighted toward the major tech companies. The communications sector includes Meta Platforms Inc.
Among the S&P 500, 66% of stocks showed gains for the year through Monday (again, excluding dividends), and the good cheer was widely spread, with 65 stocks showing gains of 40% or more.
Here are the 20 stocks in the S&P 500 showing the largest gains for 2024 through the year’s second-to-last trading session on Monday:
| Company | Ticker | 2024 price change through Dec. 30 | 2023 price change | 2022 price change | Price change since end of 2021 |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. |
PLTR -2.40%
|
349.5% | 167% | -65% | 324% |
| Vistra Corp. |
VST +0.29%
|
263.7% | 66% | 2% | 515% |
| Nvidia Corp. |
NVDA +0.35%
|
177.6% | 239% | -50% | 367% |
| United Airlines Holdings Inc. |
UAL -1.45%
|
138.0% | 9% | -14% | 124% |
| Axon Enterprise Inc. |
AXON -1.09%
|
133.9% | 56% | 6% | 285% |
| Texas Pacific Land Corp. |
TPL -3.29%
|
111.3% | -33% | 88% | 166% |
| Broadcom Inc. |
AVGO -2.55%
|
111.0% | 100% | -16% | 254% |
| Targa Resources Corp. |
TRGP +0.23%
|
104.6% | 18% | 41% | 240% |
| Howmet Aerospace Inc. |
HWM -0.85%
|
103.8% | 37% | 24% | 246% |
| Constellation Energy Corp. |
CEG -0.10%
|
93.6% | 36% | N/A | N/A |
| Arista Networks Inc. |
ANET -1.40%
|
89.3% | 94% | -16% | 210% |
| GoDaddy Inc. Class A |
GDDY -1.97%
|
87.9% | 42% | -12% | 135% |
| Netflix Inc. |
NFLX -0.78%
|
84.9% | 65% | -51% | 49% |
| Deckers Outdoor Corp. |
DECK -0.65%
|
84.7% | 67% | 9% | 237% |
| Royal Caribbean Group |
RCL +0.02%
|
79.7% | 162% | -36% | 203% |
| KKR & Co Inc. |
KKR -0.98%
|
79.1% | 78% | -38% | 99% |
| Tapestry Inc. |
TPR -0.08%
|
78.8% | -3% | -6% | 62% |
| Apollo Global Management Inc. |
APO -2.21%
|
78.7% | 46% | -12% | 130% |
| NRG Energy Inc. |
NRG +0.22%
|
78.2% | 62% | -26% | 114% |
| Fair Isaac Corp. |
FICO -1.16%
|
73.0% | 94% | 38% | 364% |
| Source: FactSet | |||||
was way out front with a 2024 gain of 349.5% through Monday. The company develops security and data-analysis software used by government agencies and private corporations.
Palantir’s stock is the most expensive among the S&P 500 when looking at forward price-to-sales ratios, which are based on current prices and consensus revenue estimates for the next 12 months among analysts polled by FactSet.
