S&P 500 leaders and losers + Two companies defying inflation
A quick fix of the latest financial happenings.
Good morning, investors!
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Without further ado…
Your S&P 500 Leaders and Losers
With the holiday season ahead of us, let’s take a look at the leaders and laggards within the S&P 500, who collectively represent our beloved “market.”
There’s not much to garner from the leaders other than it’s clearly been a good year for energy, specifically oil and gas. (Shocker.)
Dredging the gutters of the market, we find an eclectic group of companies. Here are a few highlights:
Facebook continues its descent, potentially into the social media catacombs? For their sake, the metaverse better pay off.
Two of the biggest names in semiconductors have endured a drubbing (Nvidia and AMD). Point at any of the usual suspects: high inflation, rising interest rates, lower demand, and ongoing supply chain constraints.
Dating is overrated — or, at least, from an investing standpoint. Match Group has shed two-thirds of its value this year.
Two Companies Defying Inflation: Coca-Cola and PepsiCo
Coupling inflationary pressures with circulating fears of a lengthy global recession, it’s only natural for people to tighten their belts and cut back on discretionary purchases. Apparently, that doesn’t apply to soft drinks.
While the S&P 500 has slumped 20.1%, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have generated positive returns in 2022 — a surprise considering the consumer discretionary sector as a whole has been walloped. (The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund is down 31.1%.)
Both beverage behemoths padded their product pricing this year, leading to strong year-over-year growth in Q3 — PepsiCo revenue was up 7%, while Coca-Cola revenue was up 10%. Although both expect costs to continue trending upward, they raised their revenue and profit guidance for Q4.
“The investment we've made in the brands in the last few years are paying off in the sense that our brands are being stretched to higher price points and consumers are following us in Europe and in other parts of the world.” — PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta
Three Eye-Opening Tweets
And finally, we close with three eye-opening tweets.
Companies hit the brakes on advertising.
Facebook investors are crying too, Jim.
Not even Amazon is safe.
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