Tesla And Nvidia Lead Charge As Moderna Plunges

Topline

Gains from technology giants headlined an otherwise forgetful February for Wall Street, with a second-consecutive massive gain from the always volatile electric vehicle giant Tesla leading the charge.

Key Facts

The five best-performing stocks listed on the S&P 500 this month were biotechnology contractor Catalent (26%), the U.S.’ largest chip maker Nvidia (20%), medical technology provider West Pharmaceutical Services (19%), Tesla (18%) and Facebook parent Meta (17%), according to FactSet data as of 11:15 a.m. EST.

February’s five worst performers were telecommunications company Lumen Technologies (-35%), Tinder parent Match Group (-24%), Covid vaccine manufacturer Moderna (-22%), satellite television provider DISH Network (-21%) and North Face parent V.F. Corporation (-19%).

The selloff did not discriminate by industry: Eight of the S&P’s 11 sectors notched monthly losses, with the index’s energy component the biggest loser, declining 9%, and the consumer discretionary sector the biggest gainer, rising 0.5%.

Key Background

Meta, Nvidia and Tesla collectively gained more than $220 billion in market capitalization in February. Meta and Nvidia’s respective 14% and 23% single-day gains after reporting earnings largely drove their outperformance, while Tesla’s jump was a continuation of its 90% rally this year, as investors regained confidence in the car maker. Dish shares tumbled to a 14-year low Tuesday as the company tended with a public relations disaster after it disclosed an outage in its products was due to a cybersecurity issue, and Moderna stock sank after it missed on earnings due to dwindling demand for its Covid vaccine.

Surprising Fact

Warner Bros. Discovery is the best-performing S&P stock of 2023, returning 69%, while the biggest loser is Lumen, with a 35% loss. Moderna and its Covid vaccine competitor Pfizer are the second and fourth worst-performing stocks year-to-date.

Big Number

$18 billion. That’s how much Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s net worth swelled by this month, according to Forbes’ estimates.

Further Reading

Stocks Poised For Losing February As Bank Of America Warns Fed Could Raise Rates To Nearly 6% (Forbes)

Stock Market At ‘Critical’ Level And Braced For ‘High Risk’ Of Collapse In March—Here’s What Investors Should Know (Forbes)

Chip Maker Nvidia Shares Soar 14% As Imaginations For AI Future Run Wild (Forbes)