April 2026 saw positive changes for the ten worst performing stocks the S&P 500 (Index: INX) served up for Thanksgiving 2025.
Since 28 November 2025, the 503 stocks that make up the market-capitalization weighted S&P 500 index have collectively risen to 104.2% of their value on the day after Thanksgiving Day in 2025.
But when similarly weighted by their market caps into their own index, the ten worst performing stocks of the S&P 500 in 2025, a.k.a. the Thanksgiving Leftover stocks, have collectively fallen to 95.5% of their value on the day after Thanksgiving 2025. Still, that's quite an improvement over where there were almost a month ago when they bottomed at 90.3% of their post-Thanksgiving Day level, even though it would have been outperformed by the entire S&P 500 index.
It could even be much worse. Over the same five month interval, an equal-weighted index of the same ten Thanksgiving Leftover stocks have fallen to be worth just 89.1% of their recorded value at the close of trading on 29 April 2026. Together, they had plunged as low as 80.5% of their day after Thanksgiving Day level on 27 March 2026 before proceeding to stage a recovery through April 2026.
The following chart shows how each of these groupings of stocks, the S&P 500 index and the ten Thanksgiving Leftover stocks, both market cap-weighted and equal-weighted, have fared since 28 November 2025.
As a group, the Thanksgiving Leftover stocks are clearly still losers with respect to the whole S&P 500 index. But individually, three of these ten stocks have outperformed the entire index in the five months since 28 November 2025.
The next chart tracks how each of the ten Thanksgiving Leftover stocks have performed over this period, showing their value on 29 April 2026 as a percentage of their value on 28 November 2025:
In previous editions of this series, we've focused on the worst of 2025's ten worst S&P 500 stocks. But the gains of three stocks are clearly putting the whole index' performance to shame.
Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW) has done the best of the bunch through 29 April 2026, increasing to 165.8% of its value on 28 November 2025. The chemical company's stock has benefited from the restructuring of its business to focus on growth opportunities, which led its stock to rise from $23.85 on 28 November 2025 to $32.65 on 13 February 2026. Since then however, the company has seen its forecast earnings soar along with other publicly-traded chemical companies as a result of the Iran war because the geopolitical event has disrupted the operations of their largest international competitors in the Middle East.
The second-best performing Thanksgiving Leftover stock is Molina Healthcare (NYSE: MOH). The health insurer has seen quite a lot of volatility in 2026, but in the last few weeks, its stock has sharply risen because it beat its earnings expectations for the first quarter of 2026 by a wide margin. Molina Healthcare accomplished this result by focusing on controlling its costs, while the company has benefited from the escalation of Medicare reimbursement rates that were announced earlier in the month.
The third Leftover stock doing better than the S&P 500 is Deckers Outdoor (NYSE: DECK). On 29 April 2026, the shoe company's stock was 115.1% of its 28 November 2025 level. Deckers Outdoor has fallen since peaking after it announced strong earnings near the end of January 2026, but still remains above the S&P 500's level.
In any case, we now have an answer to the question we raised at the end of our previous edition of this series: If you were going to place a bet on the outcome, would you take the over or the under for the Thanksgiving Leftover Stocks given where they were at a month ago? Readers who took the over would be winners.
But what about now? If you were offered a new chance to place a bet for where the Thanksgiving Leftover stocks will be at the end of May 2026, compared to their level at the close of trading on 29 April 2026, would you take the over or the under?
Not that it's much help, but there's a reason why so many commercials for trading firms carry the disclaimer: "Past performance is not indicative of future results". With that in mind, if you won the last time around, would you go for double or nothing?
Labels: SP 500, stock prices, thanksgiving
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