Economy
Animated Chart: The S&P 500 in 2023 So Far
The S&P 500’s Performance in 2023 Q1
With one quarter of 2023 in the books, how has the S&P 500 performed so far?
The index had a tumultuous 2022, ending the year down 18%, its worst performance since 2008. But so far, despite dealing with tight monetary conditions and an unexpected banking crisis, the S&P 500 has promptly started to rebound.
The above animation from Jan Varsava shows the stock performance of each company on the S&P 500, categorized by sector.
Biggest Gainers on the S&P 500
The S&P 500 increased 7.5% during the first quarter of 2023. Though it was led by a few big outperformers, more than half of the stocks on the index closed above their end-of-December prices.
Here are the top 30 biggest gainers on the index from January 1 to March 31, 2023.
Rank | Company | 3-Month Return |
---|---|---|
1 | Nvidia | 90.1% |
2 | Meta (Facebook) | 76.1% |
3 | Tesla | 68.4% |
4 | Warner Bros. Discovery | 59.3% |
5 | Align Technology | 58.4% |
6 | AMD | 51.3% |
7 | Salesforce | 50.7% |
8 | West Pharmaceuticals | 47.3% |
9 | General Electric | 46.3% |
10 | Catalent | 46.0% |
11 | First Solar | 45.2% |
12 | Monolithic Power Systems | 41.8% |
13 | MarketAxess Holdings | 40.6% |
14 | GE Healthcare Tech | 40.5% |
15 | Arista Networks | 38.3% |
16 | ANSYS Inc. | 37.8% |
17 | Fortinet Inc. | 35.9% |
18 | Wynn Resorts | 35.7% |
19 | Paramount Global | 33.8% |
20 | FedEx Corp | 32.7% |
21 | MGM Resorts | 32.5% |
22 | Royal Caribbean Group | 32.1% |
23 | ON Semiconductor Corp | 32.0% |
24 | Booking Holdings | 31.6% |
25 | Cadence Design Systems | 30.8% |
26 | Skyworks Solutions | 30.2% |
27 | Pulte Group | 28.4% |
28 | Seagate Technology | 27.1% |
29 | Apple | 27.1% |
30 | Lam Research | 26.6% |
Nvidia shares gained the most of all the companies on the S&P 500 in Q1 2023, posting a staggering 90% return over three months.
As the world’s largest chipmaker by market cap, Nvidia gained from both strong earnings and semiconductor industry performance. It also benefited from the rising prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) through software like ChatGPT.
Meanwhile, other tech giants Apple and Microsoft gained 27% and 21% respectively over the same time period.
Tech Leads Returns by Sector
The technology sector as a whole was the best performing sectoral index thanks to these big moves, up 21.7% at the end of March.
Sector | 3-Month Return |
---|---|
Technology | 21.65% |
Consumer Services | 21.27% |
Consumer Discretionary | 16.60% |
Materials | 4.29% |
Industrials | 3.47% |
Real Estate | 1.95% |
Consumer Staples | 0.72% |
Utilities | -3.24% |
Health Care | -4.31% |
Energy | -4.37% |
Financials | -5.56% |
S&P 500 | 7.5% |
Shares of other tech-adjacent companies like Meta (formerly Facebook) and Tesla—listed on the S&P 500 under the categories of communication services and consumer discretionary—also had a strong start to the year and lifted their respective sectors.
Meta in particular is up 76% in Q1 2023, continuing its rebound after falling to an eight-year low in November 2022 on the back of better-than-expected fourth quarter results and share buybacks.
Biggest Losers on the S&P 500
On the other side of the S&P 500, the financial sector was rocked by sudden collapses.
Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Financial Group shares lost the most ground in the first quarter, after both banks collapsed, shedding nearly all of their value in a matter of 30 days.
In fact, seven of the 10 worst performers on the index to start 2023 are banks or financial companies. The visualization shows the ripple effect on the market after the collapse of regional banks in March, and the ensuing rout driving the entire sector down 5.6% year-to-date.
Here are the top 30 biggest losers on the index from January 1 to March 31, 2023.
Rank | Company | 3-Month Return |
---|---|---|
1 | Signature Bank | -99.8% |
2 | Silicon Valley Financial Group | -99.6% |
3 | First Republic Bank | -88.5% |
4 | Lumen Technologies | -49.2% |
5 | Zions Bancorporation | -38.6% |
6 | Charles Schwab Corp | -36.9% |
7 | Comerica Incorporated | -33.9% |
8 | DISH Network | -33.5% |
9 | KeyCorp | -27.3% |
10 | Lincoln National Corp | -25.8% |
11 | Centene Corporation | -22.9% |
12 | Cigna Group | -22.5% |
13 | APA Corporation | -22.3% |
14 | Citizens Financial Group | -22.1% |
15 | Enphase Energy Inc. | -20.6% |
16 | Baxter International Inc. | -19.9% |
17 | Truist Financial Corporation | -19.9% |
18 | American International Group | -19.8% |
19 | CVS Health Corporation | -19.7% |
20 | Pfizer | -19.6% |
21 | Gen Digital | -19.5% |
22 | MetLife | -19.4% |
23 | Huntington Bancshares | -19.4% |
24 | Fidelity National | -19.3% |
25 | Halliburton Company | -19.2% |
26 | Molina Healthcare | -19.0% |
27 | PNC Financial Services | -18.8% |
28 | Boston Properties | -18.4% |
29 | Fifth Third Bancorp | -17.8% |
30 | Allstate Corporation | -17.7% |
Despite the tight monetary landscape, traditionally defensive sectors like energy, consumer staples, and healthcare also underperformed the broader index. This is a reversal from market trends seen in 2022.
Investment Trends to Watch for in 2023
Experts predict a pause in U.S. interest rate hikes “sometime in 2023” but it’s unclear when (or at what level) the pause will take place given persistent inflation in the economy.
However, if interest rates level off in 2023, it could be a key momentum maker for the S&P 500. As Barron’s points out, the index tends to rise after hikes are paused.
Meanwhile, the current tumult in the financial sector is fanning the flames of recessionary fears. How effectively regulators manage the crisis might be the story of the year.
Finally, as we have seen in 2023 so far, investor interest in AI has sent tech stocks soaring. Is this a quick fad, or an overarching trend for the year?

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.
Politics
How Much Do Americans Trust the Media?
Media trust among Americans has reached its lowest point since Trump won the 2016 presidential election.

How Much Do Americans Trust the Media?
Media trust among Americans has reached its lowest point in six years.
Gallup began its survey on media trust in 1972, repeating it in 1974 and 1976. After a long period, the public opinion firm restarted the polls in 1997 and has asked Americans about their confidence level in the mass media—newspapers, TV, and radio—almost every year since then.
The above graphic illustrates Gallup’s latest poll results, conducted in September 2023.
Americans’ Trust in Mass Media, 1972-2023
Americans’ confidence in the mass media has sharply declined over the last few decades.
Trust in the mass media | % Great deal/Fair amount | % Not very much | % None at all |
---|---|---|---|
1972 | 68 | 24 | 6 |
1974 | 69 | 21 | 8 |
1976 | 72 | 22 | 4 |
1997 | 53 | 31 | 15 |
1998 | 55 | 35 | 9 |
1999 | 55 | 34 | 11 |
2000 | 51 | 37 | 12 |
2001 | 53 | 33 | 14 |
2002 | 54 | 35 | 11 |
2003 | 54 | 35 | 11 |
2004 | 44 | 39 | 16 |
2005 | 50 | 37 | 12 |
2007 | 47 | 35 | 17 |
2008 | 43 | 35 | 21 |
2009 | 45 | 37 | 18 |
2010 | 43 | 36 | 21 |
2011 | 44 | 36 | 19 |
2012 | 40 | 39 | 21 |
2013 | 44 | 33 | 22 |
2014 | 40 | 36 | 24 |
2015 | 40 | 36 | 24 |
2016 | 32 | 41 | 27 |
2017 | 41 | 29 | 29 |
2018 | 45 | 30 | 24 |
2019 | 41 | 30 | 28 |
2020 | 40 | 27 | 33 |
2021 | 36 | 29 | 34 |
2022 | 34 | 28 | 38 |
2023 | 32 | 29 | 39 |
In 2016, the number of respondents trusting media outlets fell below the tally of those who didn’t trust the media at all. This is the first time that has happened in the poll’s history.
That year was marked by sharp criticism of the media from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
In 2017, the use of the term ‘fake news’ rose by 365% on social media, and the term was named the word of the year by dictionary publisher Collins.
The Lack of Faith in Institutions and Social Media
Although there’s no single reason to explain the decline of trust in the traditional media, some studies point to potential drivers.
According to Michael Schudson, a sociologist and historian of the news media and a professor at the Columbia Journalism School, in the 1970s, faith in institutions like the White House or Congress began to decline, consequently impacting confidence in the media.
“That may have been a necessary corrective to a sense of complacency that had been creeping in—among the public and the news media—that allowed perhaps too much trust: we accepted President Eisenhower’s lies about the U-2 spy plane, President Kennedy’s lies about the ‘missile gap,’ President Johnson’s lies about the war in Vietnam, President Nixon’s lies about Watergate,”
Michael Schudson – Columbia Journalism School
More recently, the internet and social media have significantly changed how people consume media. The rise of platforms such as X/Twitter and Facebook have also disrupted the traditional media status quo.
Partisans’ Trust in Mass Media
Historically, Democrats have expressed more confidence in the media than Republicans.
Democrats’ trust, however, has fallen 12 points over the past year to 58%, compared with 11% among Republicans and 29% among independents.
According to Gallup, Republicans’ low confidence in the media has little room to worsen, but Democrat confidence could still deteriorate and bring the overall national reading down further.
The poll also shows that young Democrats have less confidence in the media than older Democrats, while Republicans are less varied in their views by age group.
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