The First-Half Winners Getting Slammed This Month

First Half Unwind

The July unwind of 2026’s best first-half performers has been undeniably brutal. The table below of the 25 best-performing Russell 1,000 (IWB) stocks in the first half showcases the extreme swings.

The 25 stocks shown were all up 150%+ in the first half for an average gain of 235%. In the fewer than three weeks since the second half began, the average stock on this list has lost a quarter of its value, and all 25 have fallen at least 8%. The rest of the stocks in the index are up an average of 0.8% this month.

The 47 stocks that gained 100%+ in the first half of 2026 are down an average of 21.6% so far in July. On the flip side, the 17 stocks that were down 50%+ in the first half have bounced an average of 10.6%.

Breaking the Russell 1,000 into deciles further highlights the inverse correlation we’ve seen between first half and July month-to-date performance. The decile of top-performing stocks in the first half is down 13.2% so far this month, while the next two deciles of top performers are down marginally as well. As you work your way down the list of deciles based on first-half performance, July performance gets better and better.