Weekly Market Update: Stocks Gain 1.03% as Communication Services Rise and Consumer Defensives Fall

Stock Market Update for the Trading Week Ended Feb. 20

• The Morningstar US Market Index rose 1.03%.
• The best-performing sectors were communication services, up 1.91%, and industrials, up 1.62%.
• The worst-performing sectors were consumer defensives, down 2.19%, and utilities, down 0.55%.
• Large-cap stocks gained 1.17%, mid-cap stocks rose 0.70%, and small-cap stocks rose 0.72%.
• Growth stocks gained 1.29%, blend stocks gained 0.84%, and value stocks rose 0.19%.
• The S&P 500 gained 1.07% and the Nasdaq rose 1.51%.
• Of the 834 US-listed companies covered by Morningstar, 492, or 59%, were up, none were unchanged, and 342, or 41%, were down.

Bonds and Commodities

• Yields on 10-year US Treasury notes rose to 4.08% from 4.04%.
• Yields on 2-year US Treasury notes rose to 3.48% from 3.40%.
• West Texas Intermediate crude prices rose 5.57% to $66.31 per barrel.
• Comex Gold prices rose 1.38% to $5,098.60.

Top Stock Gainers

RingCentral RNG, Tandem Diabetes Care TNDM, Omnicom Group OMC, Global Payments GPN, and Moderna MRNA were the top performers among US-listed stocks covered by Morningstar analysts.

• RingCentral topped the list, rising 30.84%, and it’s up 11.12% over the past three months. This no-moat company with a 4-star rating has decreased 7.40% over the past 12 months. The stock closed the week at $39.50, trading at a 27% discount to its fair value estimate of $40.00 per share.
• Tandem Diabetes was the second-best performer, with a weekly return of 29.59%. The 3-star stock has lost 1.17% over the last three months. Shares in this no-moat company are down 41.61% over the past 12 months. Tandem Diabetes stock wrapped up the week at $24.57, trading at a 7% discount to its fair value estimate of $20.00 per share.
• Omnicom ranked third for the week, with its stock rising 20.67%. The 4-star, narrow-moat stock has gained 13.53% over the last three months and 0.19% over the past 12. Omnicom stock closed at $83.26, trading at a 30% discount to its fair value estimate of $115.00 per share.
• The fourth-best-performing stock was narrow-moat Global Payments, which gained 20.43%. The 5-star stock has gained 11.76% over the last three months but is down 23.75% over the past 12 months. Global Payments finished the week at $82.47, trading at a 39% discount to its fair value estimate of $131 per share.
• Moderna stock climbed 18.09% this week. This no-moat company has seen an increase of 105.54% over the last three months and a rise of 38.44% over the past 12 months. The 4-star stock ended the week at $49.87 per share, trading at a 21% discount to its fair value estimate of $63.00.

Top Stock Losers

Cogent Communications CCOI, Klarna Group KLAR, Genuine Parts GPC, EPAM Systems EPAM, and Akamai Technologies AKAM did the worst among US-listed stocks covered by Morningstar analysts.

• Cogent was the worst-performing stock of the week, falling 29.79%. This 4-star, narrow-moat company has risen 55.06% over the past three months but fell 64.81% over the past 12 months. The stock ended the week at $18.59, trading at a 39% discount to its fair value estimate of $43.00 per share.
• Klarna took the second spot, with a 27.77% price decline this week. The narrow-moat company, rated 5 stars, has fallen 54.49% over the past three months. Closing at $13.08, the stock trades at a 69% discount to its fair value estimate of $45.00 per share.
• Genuine Parts came in third, experiencing a 19.77% drop this week. This 3-star, narrow-moat company has fallen 3.99% over the past three months but has risen 1.16% over the past 12. The stock finished the week at $118.06, trading at a 10% discount to its fair value estimate of $132.00 per share.
• Next up is EPAM, which saw its stock price fall by 16.54% this week. The narrow-moat company with a 4-star rating has fallen 23.09% over the past three months and is down 46.09% over the past 12 months. At $138.85, the stock trades at a 22% discount to its fair value estimate of $178.00 per share.
• Akamai rounds out the list with a 15.63% decline this week. This 4-star, narrow-moat company has risen 26.66% over the past three months and rose 9.31% over the past 12 months. The stock closed the week at $94.27, trading at a 16% discount to to its fair value estimate of $130.00 per share.

Highlights of This Week’s Market and Investing Events

• **Tuesday, Feb. 24: **February Consumer Confidence Survey, earnings from Home Depot HD
• **Wednesday, Feb. 25: **Earnings from Lowe’s Companies LOW, Paramount Skydance PSKY, Salesforce CRM, Nvidia NVDA, Snowflake SNOW
• **Thursday, Feb. 26: **Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims report, earnings from Baidu BIDU, Zscaler ZS
• **Friday, Feb. 27: **January Producer Price Index report