KEY FACTS

• Drugstore chain Walgreens was the worst-performing company in the S&P 500, a benchmark that tracks the share prices of the 500 largest U.S. companies. In the first six months of the year, Walgreens’ stock price halved to its lowest level since the mid-1990s, coinciding with the company’s plans to close up to a quarter of its locations as analysts predicted Walgreens’ worst annual profit since 2013.
• Lululemon, the high-end athletic apparel company, is the second-worst performing stock YTD on the S&P, as analysts expect the retailer to report its worst annual revenue growth since Lululemon went public in 2007 ., other than the fiscal year ending in January. 2021.
• Intel, the S&P’s third-worst performer, was perhaps the most surprising loser, given that rival Nvidia and other silicon chip companies have been among the best-returning investments this year amid the AI ​​frenzy. Intel’s stock has largely been a victim  of the company’s prolonged decline in business competition has intensified, with some analysts going so far as to declare Intel a “broken company.” Intel’s first-quarter earnings of $1.8 billion before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were the second worst first quarter since at least 2000, an improvement over last year’s EBITDA of $962 million. , but represents an 82% drop from $10.3 billion in the first quarter of 2020. For reference, Nvidia’s net profit for the spring quarter rose from $1.1 billion to $17.3 billion from 2020 to 2024
• Boeing, the 10th largest returner in the S&P, certainly wasn’t shockingly low. Its stock market woes came as the airline faced what has become a public relations nightmare after several of its commercial jets broke down. That led to a Justice Department investigation, a congressional hearing focused on its problems, and this spring its worst quarterly earnings in eight quarters. All of this has disappointed investors, and Boeing is on a five-year streak of negative earnings.
• For shares of entertainment giants Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global, the fifth and twelfth biggest losers in the S&P, respectively, had a far from picture-perfect 2024 as both HBO parent WBD and CBS parent Paramount struggled with shaky balance sheets. WBD and Paramount reported net losses of $966 million and $563 million, respectively, in the first quarter — far worse than Wall Street’s Hollywood darling Netflix’s net income of $2.2 billion.
• Such negative headlines weighed on entertainment conglomerates, and the expected loss of WBD’s NBA rights led to a 10% one-day selloff on April 30, while Paramount shares tumbled 8% on June 11 after the company ended talks to sell Skydance Media, managed by the son of billionaire Larry Ellison – David Ellison.

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