Here Are 10 Stocks Beating The Coronavirus Bear Market

Topline: The coronavirus has taken an increasingly severe toll on markets during the first three months of 2020 (the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 23% in its worst quarter since 1987, while the S&P 500 plunged 20% for its biggest quarterly loss since 2008). Despite the pandemic related sell-off, there are some companies outperforming amid the stock market carnage.

Crucial statistic: Only 31 stocks in the entire S&P 500—just over 6% of the index, notched gains for the first quarter of 2020. The remaining 469 stocks are all in the red, according to Bloomberg data for the quarter that ended on March 31.

Here are the top 10 companies that have seen their share prices rise while the rest of the market is still looking for a bottom:

• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is the top-performing stock during the first quarter, rising 30%. The American biotech company has been at the forefront of efforts to develop a treatment for the coronavirus and recently started a clinical trial for a new drug to treat the illness.
• Cloud computing and software company Citrix Systems has benefited as more people are forced to work from home. The stock is up 27.6% since the beginning of the year.
• The work-from-home economy is making cybersecurity more important than ever, and NortonLifeLock is seeing the benefits. The company is a global leader in consumer cyber safety, with its stock up almost 27% over the last three months.
• Quarantine efforts and shelter-in-place orders are forcing many to look for entertainment at home. It’s no surprise then that Netflix is in high demand, and its investors are enjoying the rewards—the stock is up 16% in the first quarter.
• Unlike most of its peers in the real estate sector, Digital Realty Trust has seen its shares rally 16% despite coronavirus volatility, thanks to having more dividend safety than its rivals.
• Another biotech company at the forefront of developing a treatment for COVID-19 also makes the list: Gilead Sciences, which has seen its stock rise 15% over the last three months compared to the market’s widespread losses.
• Clorox, maker of disinfectant wipes, continues to be a hot stock as the company’s products remain in high demand amid coronavirus fears: The stock gained nearly 13% in the first quarter.
• Graphics chip-maker Nvidia has also weathered the market downturn, with its shares up 12% so far this year: Its business has proved to be resilient and the company is showing signs of strong growth. 
• Rounding out the top ten best stocks from the first quarter of 2020: Wireless infrastructure owner and operator SBA Communications, up 12%, and MSCI, global provider of equity, fixed income and stock market indexes, up 11.9%.
• Other notable high-performing stocks beyond the top ten include T-Mobile, up 7%, The J.M. Smucker Co., up 6.6% and Amazon, up 5.5%.

Here are the S&P 500 stocks that have fallen the most since the coronavirus outbreak:

• The top ten worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 unsurprisingly include three cruise operators and seven energy companies—both industries have been hit especially hard over the last few months.
• The worst-performing stock in the benchmark index over the first quarter was Apache Corp., down 83.7%. An ongoing oil price war has led to supply-and-demand shocks for the energy sector, resulting in a host of companies that have seen their share prices plunge in tandem with falling crude prices. 
• Over the last three months, other energy stocks have tanked: Marathon Oil is down 75.9%, Noble Energy by 75.7%, Devon Energy Corp. by 73.4%, Halliburton Co. by 72%, Occidental Petroleum by 71.9% and Diamondback Energy by 71.8%.
• Three cruise operators round out the top ten biggest stock losers in the S&P 500 as the industry gets slammed by a sharp decrease in global travel and tourism: Norwegian Cruise Line has plummeted 81.2%, Royal Carribean by 75.9% and Carnival by 74.1%.

What to watch for: Each time the S&P 500 has fallen more than 10% in the first quarter, the index gains an average of 40% during the rest of the year, according to analysis of historical data from LPL Financial.