Unlock stock picks and a broker-level newsfeed that powers Wall Street.

Best-performing stocks: October 2023

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is one of the most highly followed stock indexes in the world, and it contains hundreds of America’s top companies. The index has a strong track record of returns – averaging about 10 percent annually over long periods. Investors regularly keep an eye on the index and the top stocks within it as a bellwether for the market and economy as a whole.

A list of the top-performing stocks won’t indicate which will do well in the future, but many top stocks deliver solid returns year after year. Amazon and Apple, for instance, seem to have delivered attractive gains for what seems like forever, so following the best stocks may give you a clue as to which contenders will perform well in the years to come.

Below are the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 in 2023.

Best S&P 500 stocks as of October 2023

Company and ticker symbol

Performance in 2023

NVIDIA (NVDA)

197.7%

Meta Platforms (META)

149.5%

Tesla (TSLA)

103.1%

Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL)

86.4%

Carnival Corporation (CCL)

70.2%

General Electric (GE)

69.1%

Palo Alto Networks (PANW)

68.0%

PulteGroup (PHM)

62.6%

Airbnb (ABNB)

60.5%

West Pharmaceutical Services (WST)

59.4%

Data as of Sept. 29, 2023

Of course, not even the great stocks can do well all the time, so it can be useful to keep an eye on some of the stocks that have been underperforming. That’s because this year’s underperformers can become next year’s outperformers, and if you find a once-stellar stock among the dogs, it may be ripe for a bargain purchase.

Below are the worst-performing S&P 500 stocks in 2023.

Worst-performing S&P 500 stocks as of October 2023

Company and ticker symbol

Performance in 2023

Dollar General (DG)

-57.0%

Enphase Energy (ENPH)

-54.7%

SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG)

-54.3%

The AES Corporation (AES)

-47.1%

FMC Corporation (FMC)

-46.3%

Data as of Sept. 29, 2023

Widely held stocks

Here’s how some of the most widely held stocks in the S&P 500 have performed.

Company and ticker symbol

Performance in 2023

Apple (AAPL)

31.8%

Microsoft (MSFT)

31.7%

Alphabet (GOOGL)

48.3%

Amazon (AMZN)

51.3%

Tesla (TSLA)

103.1%

Data as of Sept. 29, 2023

Should you invest in the hottest stocks?

Investing in individual stocks is difficult. You have to research and analyze the business and industry, as well as understand the dynamics that are driving it all. That’s fine for individuals who have the time, ability and desire to do what it takes to succeed here.

But what if you don’t want to do that amount of work yet enjoy the attractive return of stocks? Well, any investor can participate, even with very little knowledge. It’s easy for an investor of any skill level to purchase a fund based on the S&P 500 index. The fund owns stakes in all the companies in the index, meaning you own a tiny piece of hundreds of stocks.