The S&P 500’s Three Biggest Flops in 2024… Buy the Dip or Skip the Trip?

If 2024 had a motto, it was "stonks only go up." Bitcoiners slapped on their laser eyes, trolls on Twitter mocked real estate investors drowning in high-interest mortgages, and everyone seemed to ride the bull market wave. The S&P 500 soared over 23%, building on its monster 24% gain from 2023. Life was good… unless you were holding certain unfortunate stocks. Yes, dear reader, I’m here to burst your bubble… Not every stock hit the jackpot (crazy I know). So let’s give a sarcastic standing ovation to the top three losers of the S&P 500 in 2024.

1. Walgreens Boots Alliance: -64%

Walgreens Boots Alliance aimed to become the Swiss Army knife of health care… a one-stop shop for pharmacy and basic medical needs. But unfortunately, they overbuilt with too many stores… attracting too few customers (turns out, people don’t want to spend $15 on cough syrup at every street corner). Add intense competition from Walmart, Target, Costco, and Kroger, and Walgreens ended up with the retail equivalent of a participation trophy ("Congrats on showing up, I guess").

In February, the Dow Jones Industrial Average unceremoniously kicked Walgreens out, replacing it with Amazon (talk about trading a tricycle for a Tesla). This symbolic blow reflected its faltering relevance in a rapidly evolving market. By year-end, Walgreens’ market cap had shriveled, and the company announced plans to go private ("We’ll handle our humiliation out of the public eye, thank you very much").

2. Intel: -60%

Intel used to be the rockstar of chip-making, headlining every tech stage and powering nearly every PC on the planet. Now? It’s the washed-up one-hit wonder playing Tuesday nights at the local dive bar. While AMD and Taiwan Semiconductor were busy cranking out faster, more adaptable chips, Intel stuck to its "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" mantra (spoiler: it was very broke).

The early 2000s hit Intel like a tech midlife crisis. PC sales plateaued, cloud computing took off, and AI became the hottest new thing. But now Intel’s business plan is to pretend that none of it was happening. (Because apparently, denial is a business strategy now.)

Former CEO Pat Gelsinger’s ambitious plan to build U.S.-based foundries cratered, and by 2024, Intel was grasping at straws. Revenue from its core business declined sharply, with AI-driven competitors seizing market share. By December, Intel’s stock was down 60%, its lowest level since the dot-com bubble burst (nostalgia isn’t always a good thing).

3. Estee Lauder: -49%

Estee Lauder’s glamorous history (founded by the only woman on Time’s list of 20th-century business geniuses) was no match for the harsh realities of 2024. Weak demand in China, one of its largest markets, sent earnings down 64% from 2022 levels. The company’s revenue for fiscal 2025 is projected to drop 4% to around $15 billion, as consumers worldwide spent less money.

Even Lauder’s high-margin luxury brands couldn’t cover up the ugly. By year-end, the stock had fallen nearly 50%. So, take it for what it’s worth… Are these screaming buys for 2025 just because, theoretically, they can’t drop any further? (Unless they invent negative stock prices). It’s not exactly the kind of logic you’d put on a résumé, but hey, desperation and brilliance can look suspiciously similar after a few drinks.

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Stock.News has positions in Intel, Amazon, and Tesla.