By 
Consumer stocks were hit hard on May 18 as disappointing earnings reports from Target Corp. and Walmart Inc. led to double-digit declines for many retailers.
Market Snapshot: Dow skids 1,100 points and heads for worst day since June 2020 on stagflation fears, higher costs eroding profits
Shares of Target
TGT,
-24.93%
fell 25% after the company reported a 48% decline in earnings per share for its first fiscal quarter from the year-earlier quarter.
Read: Target stock plunges as profit drops on consumer spending shifts and jump in freight costs
Target’s disappointment came after Walmart reported a 24% decline in quarterly profit. Shares of the largest U.S. retailer fell 7% on May 18, following an 11% decline the previous day.
A contagion spread, with shares of Dollar Tree
DLTR,
-14.42%
dropping 14% even though the discount retailer isn’t scheduled to report its quarterly results until May 26.
The worst sector of 2022 is no longer tech
The consumer discretionary sector suffered a 6.6% decline in only one day and hit the trifecta for the worst performance of the session, for the first 13 trading days of May and for 2022.
Here’s a summary of how the 11 sectors of the benchmark S&P 500
SPX,
-4.04%
have performed this year:
S&P 500 sector
Price change – 2022
Price change – May
Price change – May 18
Consumer Discretionary
-30.8%
-12.4%
-6.6%
Communication Services
-27.0%
-1.3%
-3.4%
Information Technology
-24.5%
-6.9%
-4.7%
Real Estate
-19.3%
-10.0%
-2.9%
Financials
-15.2%
-4.0%
-2.8%
Industrials
-13.7%
-4.0%
-3.8%
Materials
-9.6%
-3.6%
-3.2%
Health Care
-9.4%
-1.9%
-2.6%
Consumer Staples
-7.3%
-8.0%
-6.4%
Utilities
-0.3%
0.2%
-1.0%
Energy
46.2%
8.0%
-2.8%
Full S&P 500
-17.7%
-5.0%
-4.0%
Source: FactSet
Stocks that fell the most on May 18
The S&P 500 slumped 4% on May 18 for its worst performance of 2022. Here are the 11 stocks in the benchmark index that fell more than 10% for the session:
Company
Ticker
Price change – May 18
Price change – May
Price change – 2022
Decline from 52-week high
Date of 52-week intraday high
Target Corp.
-24.9%
-29.3%
-30.2%
-39.9%
11/15/2021
Dollar Tree Inc.
-14.4%
-17.6%
-4.8%
-24.5%
04/21/2022
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.
-13.0%
-15.6%
-34.0%
-36.7%
12/07/2021
Tractor Supply Co.
-12.5%
-9.8%
-23.9%
-24.8%
03/31/2022
Costco Wholesale Corp.
-12.5%
-19.2%
-24.4%
-29.9%
04/07/2022
Dollar General Corp.
-11.1%
-14.8%
-14.2%
-22.9%
04/21/2022
Ulta Beauty Inc.
-10.8%
-11.7%
-15.0%
-20.1%
04/21/2022
Best Buy Co.
-10.5%
-15.9%
-25.6%
-46.7%
11/22/2021
J.M. Smucker Co.
-10.5%
-6.3%
-5.5%
-12.5%
05/09/2022
Etsy Inc.
-10.5%
-15.4%
-64.0%
-74.4%
11/26/2021
Newell Brands Inc.
-10.4%
-10.7%
-5.4%
-31.3%
05/10/2021
Source: FactSet
Click on the tickers for more about each company.
Read Tomi Kilgore’s detailed guide to the wealth of information for free on the MarketWatch quote page.
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