SPX Momentum Is Real: These Stocks Could Benefit Rocky White May 6, 2026 3 min read ^GSPC XOM NKE T Stocks have been rallying lately, with the S&P 500 Index (SPX) gaining over 10% over the course of a month for the first time in about a year (not using calendar months, but rather any 21-trading day period). However, not all stocks have fared as well. In fact, Nike (NKE), Exxon-Mobil (XOM), AT&T (T), and many other SPX stocks were down more than 10% over that same period.
This week, I'm looking at similar broad market rallies and comparing the returns going forward of the best performing stocks during the rally to the worst performing stocks. Do the stocks and sectors that boosted the market during the rally continue their momentum, or do the worst performing stocks play catch-up over the next few months? From there, we'll get insight into which stocks to target.
Worst Stocks During Rallies Going back to 2022, there have four times that the SPX gained at least 10% in a month, or more specifically, 21 trading days. Looking at current SPX stocks, I separated out the best and worst 50 stocks during the rally and tracked their performance over the next month. The table below summarizes the results.
Based on the last four rallies, the best stocks during the surge continued to outperform over the next month. The best 50 stocks during each of the four rallies averaged a return of 6% over the next month with 67% positive and 64% beating the SPX. The worst stocks during the rally averaged a return of 1.4% with 53% positive and just 44% beating the index.
SPX 1 Month Return Looking at the same stocks, the table below shows the returns over the next three months. Again, the better the stocks performed during the broad market rally, the better they performed going forward. The outperformers during the rally returned about 12% over the next three months, with 64% beating the SPX.
The underperformers during the rally averaged a return of 3.5%, with 43% beating the SPX. 3 Month Returns SPX These next two tables show the individual SPX 10% rallies. The last two rallies were for the month preceding May 6, 2025, and November 28, 2023. The SPX went on to gain over 5% in the subsequent month and over 10% in the next three months.
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