MW These 20 worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 sank 17% or more in March

By Philip van Doorn

The consumer-discretionary and technology sectors took their lumps as President Trump altered U.S. trade policy

Stocks turned higher on Monday afternoon to finish March on a positive note. Still, the S&P 500 ended with a 5.8% decline for March, with 69% of component stocks down for the month. Among the S&P 500, 98 stocks dropped at least 10% in March. (All price changes in this article exclude dividends.)

Read: Stagflation risks, looming tariffs fuel stock-market jitters in ugly quarter for S&P 500

Here is how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 SPX performed in March, with price changes for the past four calendar years and, in the right-most column, price changes from the end of 2021 through Monday's close. This data is shown to add perspective because the S&P 500 declined 19.4% in 2021.

The sectors are sorted by price changes during March, in ascending order, with the full index at the bottom of the table:

   Sector or index           March price change  2025 price change  2024 price change  2023 price change  2022 price change  Price change since end of 2021 
   Consumer Discretionary                 -9.0%             -14.0%              29.1%              41.0%             -37.6%                           -2.2% 
   Information Technology                 -8.9%             -12.8%              35.7%              56.4%             -28.9%                           31.6% 
   Communication Services                 -8.4%              -6.4%              38.9%              54.4%             -40.4%                           19.5% 
   Financials                             -4.3%               3.1%              28.4%               9.9%             -12.4%                           27.6% 
   Industrials                            -3.7%              -0.5%              15.6%              16.0%              -7.1%                           24.0% 
   Real Estate                            -3.0%               2.7%               1.7%               8.3%             -28.4%                          -19.0% 
   Materials                              -2.9%               2.3%              -1.8%              10.2%             -14.1%                           -4.9% 
   Consumer Staples                       -2.8%               4.6%              12.0%              -2.2%              -3.2%                           11.0% 
   Healthcare                             -1.8%               6.1%               0.9%               0.3%              -3.6%                            3.5% 
   Utilities                               0.1%               4.1%              19.6%             -10.2%              -1.4%                           10.2% 
   Energy                                  3.7%               9.3%               2.3%              -4.8%              59.0%                           69.3% 
   S&P 500                                -5.8%              -4.6%              23.3%              24.2%             -19.4%                           17.7% 
                                                                                                                                            Source: FactSet 

Coming up: What we know and don't know about Trump's April 2 tariffs

The worst performers in March

Here are the 20 stocks in the S&P 500 that declined the most for the month. Again, price changes for previous calendar year are shown, along with price changes from the end of 2001 through Monday. (You may have to scroll the table to see all of the columns.)

Two airlines topped the list of March's biggest losers in the stock market, giving rise to concerns for other industries relying on consumer demand.

   Company                         Ticker    March price change  2025 price change  2024 price change  2023 price change  2022 price change  Price change since end of 2021 
   Delta Air Lines Inc.            DAL                   -27.5%             -27.9%                50%                22%               -16%                             12% 
   United Airlines Holdings Inc.   UAL                   -26.4%             -28.9%               135%                 9%               -14%                             58% 
   Teradyne Inc.                   TER                   -24.8%             -34.4%                16%                24%               -47%                            -49% 
   Caesars Entertainment Inc.      CZR                   -24.7%             -25.2%               -29%                13%               -56%                            -73% 
   DexCom Inc.                     DXCM                  -22.7%             -12.2%               -37%                10%               -16%                            -49% 
   Lululemon Athletica inc.        LULU                  -22.6%             -26.0%               -25%                60%               -18%                            -28% 
   Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.  HPE                   -22.1%             -27.7%                26%                 6%                 1%                             -2% 
   Nike Inc.                       NKE                   -20.1%             -16.1%               -30%                -7%               -30%                            -62% 
   Deckers Outdoor Corp.           DECK                  -19.8%             -44.9%                82%                67%                 9%                             83% 
   Constellation Energy Corp.      CEG                   -19.5%              -9.9%                91%                36%                N/A                             N/A 
   Williams-Sonoma Inc.            WSM                   -18.7%             -14.6%                84%                76%               -32%                             87% 
   Ralph Lauren Corp.              RL                    -18.6%              -4.4%                60%                36%               -11%                             86% 
   Carnival Corp.                  CCL                   -18.4%             -21.6%                34%               130%               -60%                             -3% 
   Best Buy Co. Inc.               BBY                   -18.1%             -14.2%                10%                -2%               -21%                            -28% 
   EPAM Systems Inc.               EPAM                  -18.1%             -27.8%               -21%                -9%               -51%                            -75% 
   Microchip Technology Inc.       MCHP                  -17.8%             -15.6%               -36%                28%               -19%                            -44% 
   Incyte Corp.                    INCY                  -17.6%             -12.3%                10%               -22%                 9%                            -18% 
   Tapestry Inc.                   TPR                   -17.6%               7.8%                77%                -3%                -6%                             73% 
   Super Micro Computer Inc.       SMCI                  -17.4%              12.3%                 7%               246%                87%                            679% 
   Western Digital Corp.           WDC                   -17.4%             -32.2%                14%                66%               -52%                            -38% 
                                                                                                                                                            Source: FactSet 

Click on the tickers for more about each company - including corporate profiles, news coverage, financials, charts, estimates, ratings and price targets.

Read: Tomi Kilgore's guide to the wealth of information available on the MarketWatch quote page

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-Philip van Doorn

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March 31, 2025 17:02 ET (21:02 GMT)

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