The S&P 500 Companies Notched 70 Record Highs in 2021
Towards the end of 2021, the S&P 500 index marked its 70th record finish. Looking at the number of record highs, 2021 was truly remarkable—33 in 2020, 35 in 2019, and the average over the 10 years from 2011 to 2020 is 28. 70 record highs was the most since 1995 when 77 S&P 500 companies achieved record closes.
At the end of 2021, the S&P 500 index was up nearly 27% and the Energy sector was one of the biggest gainers as we saw in our previous infographic “Visualizing S&P 500 Companies Performance by Sector.” But which companies did well? And which companies fell short?
The infographic above visualized the performance of the S&P 500 companies for the year 2021. The size of each square indicates the weight of each company and sector. For example, the size of the Information Technology sector is the biggest, which means the Information Technology sector is the most heavily-weighted.
The colour of each square indicates the change in market capitalization of the company in percentage. The darker the colour, the less the growth in the company’s market cap, and vice versa.
Apple: The Most Heavily-Weighted Company
Apple had an index weighting of nearly 7% with a market cap of $2.89 trillion at the end of 2021, which made the company the most heavily-weighed company of the year. Microsoft followed Apple, with a market cap of $2.52 trillion. The third went to Google with $1.95 trillion, then comes Amazon with $1.74 trillion. Tesla just joined the trillion-dollar club, achieving a market cap of $1.07 trillion.
The table below shows the change in the market cap of these top 5 S&P 500 companies.
Company | Sector | Market Cap 2021 ($bn) | Change in Market Cap (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Apple | Information Technology | 2,892 | 28 |
2 | Microsoft | Information Technology | 2,512 | 49 |
3 | Alphabet (Google) | Communication Services | 1,951 | 65 |
4 | Amazon | Consumer Discretionary | 1,735 | 6 |
5 | Tesla | Consumer Discretionary | 1,071 | 60 |
Devon Energy: The Most Growing Company
The Energy sector was the best-performing sector in 2021, and the most-growing company was in this sector: Devon Energy. The company led the Energy sector with a growth of whopping 371%. Devon Energy primarily engages in exploration and development of oil and natural gas. It has received a massive boost in its revenue due to surging oil price in 2021.
International Flavors and Fragrances outperformed others in the Materials sector with a 213% growth. Bolstered by strong demand trend, the company increased its revenue for its third quarter from $1.27 billion to $3.07 billion, a 141.7% increase.
The table below displays the top five best-performing S&P 500 companies.
Company | Sector | Market Cap 2021 ($bn) | Change in Market Cap (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Devon Energy | Energy | 28.46 | 371 |
2 | International Flavors & Fragrances | Materials | 36.42 | 213 |
3 | Signature Bank | Financials | 19.38 | 168 |
4 | Diamondback Energy | Energy | 19.19 | 151 |
5 | Moderna | Health Care | 101.35 | 145 |
Global Payments: The Worst Performer
Although Global Payments made its debut on the Fortune 500 in 2021, its market cap dropped 39%. As the name implies, the company provides payment technology and services, such as credit cards, debit cards, and digital and contactless payments. Unfortunately, 2021 wasn’t that great for payment-processing companies: Fidelity National Information Services (-24%), Fleetcor (-20%), and PayPay (-18%) also struggled in the market.
The bottom 5 worst-performing companies were as below.
Company | Sector | Market Cap 2021 ($bn) | Change in Market Cap (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Global Payments | Information Technology | 39.27 | -39 |
2 | Las Vegas Sands | Consumer Discretionary | 29.48 | -35 |
3 | Penn National Gaming | Consumer Discretionary | 8.71 | -35 |
4 | Activision Blizzard | Communication Services | 50.75 | -29 |
5 | MarketAxess | Financials | 15.61 | -28 |