• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Ohio city workers are covering automated license plate readers with trash bags as officials sound the alarm on 'egregious violations' of privacy

2

Social Security unraveling: 7,100 workers sacked, performance metrics retired, disability claims falling

3

Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent

1

Ohio city workers are covering automated license plate readers with trash bags as officials sound the alarm on 'egregious violations' of privacy

2

Social Security unraveling: 7,100 workers sacked, performance metrics retired, disability claims falling

3

Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent
Finance

The best stocks of 2020 so far have made pandemic investors much richer

By
Jen Wieczner
Jen Wieczner
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jen Wieczner
Jen Wieczner
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 1, 2020, 3:22 PM ET

Our mission to help you navigate the new normal is fueled by subscribers. To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism, subscribe today.

The first half of 2020 was a wild ride for investors, between a (short-lived) bear market and an ensuing record-setting recovery, with unprecedented volatility in between.

Through the mid-year point, results for the biggest U.S. indexes were an equally wild mix. Amid the coronavirus carnage in the markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.6% and the S&P 500 declined 4%. On the other hand, the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 12.1%. Gold did even better, up 17.4%.

But those gains are nothing compared to the best performers on the stock market, where the top ten S&P 500 stocks eclipsed those numbers, and the best Nasdaq stocks went even further—with returns that more than doubled their value, at a minimum.

Perhaps surprisingly, several pandemic darling stocks such as Netflix, whose subscribers surged with people stuck at home, didn’t even crack the top 10—even though Netflix stock returned nearly 41% in the first half of 2020.

In the S&P 500, the first half’s best performing stocks included Clorox (up nearly 45% as its sanitizing wipes sold out everywhere) and Amazon (rising more than 49% as people relied more on e-commerce), as well as electronic payments company PayPal (up 61%) and semiconductor giant Nvidia (up almost 62%).

In an even bigger surprise, the two biggest winners in the S&P 500 were both health care stocks—though their performance can’t entirely be credited to a coronavirus boost. The best-performing S&P 500 stock was DexCom, a maker of smart glucose monitors for diabetes patients, which rose more than 85%, followed by Regeneron (up 66%), which is trying to replicate its success with Ebola treatments in finding an antidote for COVID-19.

Those returns, however, were all overshadowed by the best performers in the Nasdaq. (For this article, we looked only at companies with at least $10 billion in market value). While Tesla came in at No. 5, with a first-half return of over 158%, that performance was dwarfed by its upstart competitor, Nikola, which came in first, soaring 554%. Nikola has had an eventful year; it just began taking pre-orders for its new electric pickup truck, and its share price soared after it joined the Nasdaq in June via a reverse merger.

Coming in second among Nasdaq stocks, of course, was Zoom Video—the virtual meeting software company that has been the talk of the pandemic among corporate employees and home fitness enthusiasts alike, rising nearly 273%.

Even strong contenders like Peloton Interactive, whose stock more than doubled in value as its at-home bikes and workout classes were a quarantine hit, didn’t quite make the list.

On the flip side, a good many other stocks—as might be expected— have had a terrible 2020 so far. The worst performers among the S&P 500 include the major cruise lines like Norwegian (down 72%) and Carnival (down nearly 68%), along with a smattering of energy companies and airlines.

One noteworthy anomaly among the losers is beauty company Coty. That stock fell more than 60% in the first half of the year—and that’s even after Coty stock surged this week on news that it would take a 20% stake in Kim Kardashian’s cosmetics brand.

About the Author
By Jen Wieczner
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

paceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall on October 26, 2024 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
HealthSpaceX
SpaceX reveals its share price and record valuation: 555.6 million shares at $135 apiece, at a $1.77 trillion valuation
By Eva RoytburgJune 3, 2026
8 hours ago
Live updates from the NYC bar that promised to cover everyone’s tabs if the Knicks won, and used Kalshi to hedge their bets
InvestingSports
Live updates from the NYC bar that promised to cover everyone’s tabs if the Knicks won, and used Kalshi to hedge their bets
By Catherina GioinoJune 3, 2026
9 hours ago
Andy Jassy speaks in front of a black and blue background.
FinanceFortune 500
What is a Fortune 500 company? The story behind the list
By Sasha RogelbergJune 3, 2026
9 hours ago
SpaceX may be the biggest IPO ever, but Morningstar says it is overvalued by half and the smart investors will wait out the hype and buy later
Startups & VentureSpaceX
SpaceX may be the biggest IPO ever, but Morningstar says it is overvalued by half and the smart investors will wait out the hype and buy later
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 3, 2026
10 hours ago
Sallie Mae Private Student Loans review
Personal FinanceLoans
Sallie Mae Private Student Loans review
By Joseph HostetlerJune 3, 2026
10 hours ago
These Fortune 500 companies are bigger than most national economies—here’s where they’d rank as countries
Big TechFortune 500
These Fortune 500 companies are bigger than most national economies—here’s where they’d rank as countries
By Catherina GioinoJune 3, 2026
11 hours ago

Most Popular

Ohio city workers are covering automated license plate readers with trash bags as officials sound the alarm on 'egregious violations' of privacy
Cybersecurity
Ohio city workers are covering automated license plate readers with trash bags as officials sound the alarm on 'egregious violations' of privacy
By Sasha RogelbergJune 3, 2026
17 hours ago
Social Security unraveling: 7,100 workers sacked, performance metrics retired, disability claims falling
North America
Social Security unraveling: 7,100 workers sacked, performance metrics retired, disability claims falling
By Katie Savin, Callie Freitag, Matthew Borus and The ConversationJune 2, 2026
2 days ago
Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent
Environment
Erin Brockovich, the activist who defeated a utility giant and inspired a Julia Roberts film, is pushing data centers to be more transparent
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 1, 2026
3 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 3, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 3, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 3, 2026
18 hours ago
Southwest exec says the free bag and assigned seating overhaul is already paying off
Travel & Leisure
Southwest exec says the free bag and assigned seating overhaul is already paying off
By Preston ForeJune 2, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of June 2, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 2, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 2, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.