The first four days of 2016 brought on the worst drop for investors seen in any of our lifetimes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed out 2015 at 17,425.03, and the index’s closing value of 16,514.10 on Thursday, January 7, 2016, made for a loss of over 5.2%. What really stood out here was that the carnage was almost unilateral as only one Dow stock was up so far this year.
24/7 Wall St. has put together a list of the nine worst Dow stocks in the first four trading days of 2016. The nine were all down by 7% or more, according to a FINVIZ screen. We have included color on each component, and used Yahoo! Finance data for consensus analyst price targets, 52-week ranges and other data. These are listed in order of negative performance. Also included for each is a link to the 24/7 Wall St. bullish and bearish outlook for each stock.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) had the dubious honor of being number one on the list of worst performing Dow stocks in 2016, with a loss through Thursday’s close of about 8.7%. Goldman Sachs recently has had issues trading the market and that could very well be why the stock is leading the DJIA down. In this first week, broad markets across the world tanked, and Goldman Sachs holdings went down with them. Shares of Goldman Sachs closed Thursday at $164.62, with a consensus analyst price target of $209.17 and a 52-week trading range of $163.60 to $218.77. Goldman Sachs’ Bull/Bear Case for 2016!
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) lost roughly $50 billion out of its market cap in just this first week alone, down over 8%. Slumping iPhone sales and decreased production might have investors worried about this tech behemoth. Uncertainty is driving this stock down, and calling a bottom for Apple with markets trading the way they are right now is a risky business. Apple shares closed Thursday at $96.45, with a consensus price target of $146.83 and a 52-week range of $92.00 to $134.54. Apple’s Bull/Bear Case for 2016!
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JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is somewhat of a quandary, with shares down about 8% in 2016. One would think that the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates would benefit the major banks and bump up their loan revenues, but this might not be the case for JPMorgan. Similar to Goldman Sachs, trading revenues over the course of this week have fallen off the table, and a rising tide might be the best bet for a turnaround. Shares of JPMorgan closed Thursday at $60.27, with a consensus price target of $73.07 and a 52-week range of $50.07 to $70.61. JPMorgan’s Bull/Bear Case for 2016!
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) got off to a rocky start in 2016 with a drop of 8.01% through Thursday’s close. That was despite having delivered 762 jetliners in 2015 — a record — and with a massive backlog that is still expected to be well in excess of $400 billion. Maybe the slowing world means that many orders will be canceled. Boeing shares closed Thursday at $133.01, with a consensus price target of $163.82 and a 52-week range of $115.14 to $158.83. Boeing’s Bull/Bear Case for 2016!
American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was at the mercy of the strong dollar over the course of 2015, and that appears to be the case for this year as well. This stock is down nearly 8% in just this first week of trading alone. Sure, falling broad markets this week had an impact in pulling this stock down, but the prevailing market conditions and the currency overhang will prove to be tough to overcome. Shares of American Express closed Thursday at $63.84, with a consensus price target of $80.38 and a 52-week range of $63.08 to $91.80. Amex’s Bull/Bear Case for 2016!
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) continues to look worse than rival Exxon, with a year-to-date loss of 7.71% as of Thursday’s close, and it was the sixth worst Dow stock as of Thursday’s close. Low oil prices and low demand are to blame here, but what makes Chevron so challenging for dividend investors is that its dividend is higher than expected 2015 and 2016 earnings per share estimates. Oil below $40 a barrel just isn’t good for any company in the oil patch. Chevron shares closed Thursday at $83.02, with a consensus price target of $99.41 and a 52-week range of $69.58 to $112.93. Chevron’s Bull/Bear Case for 2016!
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (NYSE: DD), or DuPont, was the seventh worst performing Dow stock of 2016 after the first four trading days. Its drop has been 7.66%, and it may just be all the global strife here hurting the company. Another concern is that it gets hard to evaluate this on a Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) merger in which the company intends to break up into three companies. Will DuPont even be in the Dow after that breakup starts to unfold? Shares of DuPont closed Thursday at $61.50, with a consensus price target of $71.69 and a 52-week range of $47.11 to $76.59. DuPont’s Bull/Bear Case for 2016!
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Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) seems to have been overly brutalized with a year-to-date drop of 7.58% as of Thursday’s close. The world of tech is slowing, but Intel has now closed on its acquisition of Altera, and it continues to move away from being so dependent on CPU sales for PCs. It wasn’t even a great performer of 2015. Intel shares closed Thursday at $31.84, with a consensus price target of $36.22 and a 52-week range of $24.87 to $37.49. Intel’s Bull/Bear Case for 2016!
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was the top conglomerate of 2015 and blew out expectations on all fronts. That means that during the market carnage it was sold off the most as well. GE was the ninth worst performer, down 7% so far in 2016 as of Thursday’s close, and we have to remember that GE will be buying back billions and billions worth of stock in 2016. Now the question is whether the big gains in 2015 ate all of 2016’s potential gains. Shares of GE closed Thursday at $28.97, with a consensus price target of $32.31 and a 52-week range of $19.37 to $31.49. GE’s Bull/Bear Case for 2016!
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