Magnificent Seven companies carried the US stock market this year

Wall Street leaned hard on its tech giants this year, with the “Magnificent Seven” carrying the bulk of the stock market’s gains. The S&P 500 soared 23% between January and December 19, and over half of that came from just seven companies.

According to Bespoke Investment Group, Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Meta Platforms, and others contributed 13.7 percentage points to the index’s rise. Investors hoped for a broader rally after 2023’s tech-fueled recovery, but it didn’t happen.

Nvidia steals the show, but not everyone wins big

Nvidia, the year’s crown jewel, surged 175%. The AI giant became the third-best performer in the entire S&P 500, thanks to its dominance in artificial intelligence hardware. Traders couldn’t get enough of Nvidia’s chips, and the company’s stock proved that hype.

But not all Magnificent Seven members had a banner year. Microsoft only climbed 14%, underperforming the broader market. And for a moment, it even looked like the Magnificent Seven might lose members. Earlier in 2024, some analysts floated a new “Fab Four” lineup after Tesla, Apple, and Alphabet hit rough patches.

Speaking of struggles, Intel had a miserable year. The chipmaker’s stock plunged over 60%, putting it on track for its worst performance ever. Intel ended the year as the second-worst performer in the S&P 500, despite a minor rally in December when it gained 1.2% during midday trading.

Profit-taking hit Nvidia late in the year, with the stock dropping 1.3% in December. But even that couldn’t erase its monster gains. The rest of the market wasn’t so lucky.

A historic year for the S&P 500

The S&P 500 didn’t just have a good year, it had one of its best ever. The index hit 57 all-time highs through the year, the third-most this century and fifth-most in history. Its 23.8% year-to-date gain followed a 24.2% rally in 2023, its best two-year run since 1997 and 1998.

For those doing the math, the late ‘90s comparison isn’t comforting. Back then, stocks gained 31% and 26.7% in consecutive years before adding another 19.5% in 1999. Then the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, wiping out much of the tech sector’s gains.

This year, the Nasdaq Composite told a similar story. It outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500, driven by tech’s unmatched strength. While the Nasdaq kept climbing in December, the Dow slipped over 5%, and the Russell 2000, focused on smaller-cap stocks, tumbled nearly 8%.

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