As we approach year-end, today we looked at where analyst ratings stood for Russell 1,000 stocks at the end of 2021 to see how the most loved stocks at the start of the year ended up performing. Looking at just stocks with coverage from at least eight analysts, the average Russell 1,000 stock had about 59% buy ratings at the start of 2022.

Sixty-three Russell 1,000 stocks began the year with at least 90% buy ratings, while 52 stocks had less than 20% buy ratings. Those 52 stocks with less than 20% buy ratings are currently down an average of 10.7% YTD on a total return basis. The 63 stocks with 90%+ buy ratings are down an average of 22.8%.

The 38 stocks below had at least 92% buy ratings at the start of 2022. Of these 38, the 24 with 100% buy ratings are down an average of 32% YTD. The biggest of the “100% buy” stocks is Amazon (AMZN). At the start of 2022, all 59 analysts covering the name had a buy rating. It’s down just under 50% YTD as of this morning. Two of the 24 stocks with all buy ratings on 12/31/21 posted gains this year: Encompass Health (EHC) and Horizon Therapeutics (HZNP). That’s a “batting average” of under .100 with roughly 28% of Russell 1,000 stocks in the green on the year.  

As always, past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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