Latest from Electrical Price Index

Photo 199231482 © hye jin kang / Dreamstime.com
prices_cost_rising_photo_199231482___hye_jin_kang_
Photo 199231482 © Hye Jin Kang / Dreamstime
prices_cost_rising_photo_199231482___hye_jin_kang_
199231482 ©/ hye jin kang / Dreamstime.com
Pphoto 19923148 / Hye Jin Kang / Dreamstime
Photo 199231482 / Hye Jin Kang / Dreamstime
Photo 199231482 / Ye Jin Kang / Dreamstime
Photo 199231482 / Hye Jin Kang / Dreamstime
Photo 199231482 / Hye Jin Kang / Dreamstime
Photo 199231482 / Hye Jin / Kang /Dreamstime
Gettyimages 1047687256 2048x2048 5eac2a761df8b

Electrical Stocks: Year-to-Date Performance

May 1, 2020
You will find some surprises in the performance of some electrical stocks. The news is not all bad.

What a ride it’s been for the stock market. Back in mid-February when the market indices were hitting all-time highs, bullish investors were doing a happy dance and congratulating themselves for their savvy stock-picking acumen. One month later, they were flattened by March’s nauseating declines when the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 10,000 points.

As we turn the page to the month of May, investors may be breathing a little easier because of the bounce-back  from  March’s lows. However, some financial analysts on CNBC’s Squawk Box and other media outlets believe investors should brace themselves for more volatility because of their concerns that in recent weeks the market has raced too far past actual market conditions, and that any economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis is still very much in the earliest of innings in a nine-inning game.

Electrical stocks are all very much a part of this volatile whirlwind. As you can see in the table below, only a handful of the stocks that Electrical Marketing’s editors track are currently riding above the market indices. Unfortunately, when you analyze these stocks by the year-to-date percent change of share prices, the performance of most of the publicly held electrical manufacturers, distributors and contractors is currently tracking well below the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite.

Also, of note is the fact that several key competitors to traditional electrical distributors are beating the three indices despite all this turmoil — Amazon (up +24% year-to-date); Home Depot (+1%); and Fastenal (-2%). Generac (+2%) and LSI Industries (-2%) are the only major electrical stocks beating the indices. The year-to-date performance through mid-day on April 29 of 30 of the stocks EM editors track is below that of the three indices, with WESCO (down -50%); GE (down -44%); Houston Wire & Cable (-43%); Mersen (-43%); and MasTec (-40%) currently suffering the most. Both WESCO and Mersen stock had been top electrical stocks in our previous market analyses over the past year or two, proving true the old Wall Street saying, “The market giveth, and the market taketh.”

TIPS FOR ANALYZING DATA IN THE TABLE BELOW

Viewing Data in Full Screen

1.      Navigate to bottom right-hand corner of the screen

2.       Hover over and click on the Full Screen Icon on the far right.

3.       To bring screen back to normal mode, click on Escape

Sorting Data

Hover over and click on the column you would like to sort.

Downloading Data

1.       Navigate to bottom right-hand corner of the screen

2.       Hover over and click on the Download icon - second icon from the right

3.       Follow download instructions in pop-up menu