With markets closed for President's Day, we thought we'd take a look at where things stand now that we're two years removed from the pre-COVID peak for the stock market. On February 19th, 2020, the S&P 500 made its last closing high prior to all hell breaking loose for the next month. From the high on 2/19/20 to the low on 3/23/20, major indices crashed more than 30% due to pandemic fears and the resulting lockdowns that shut down the economy.
Stock price levels from 2/19/20 are a great pre-COVID reference point. As shown below, the average stock in the Russell 3,000 is currently up 36.3% from that point, so we're still well above pre-COVID levels even after the stock market's recent struggles. The average Energy stock is 84% above its 2/19/20 level, while the average Tech stock is higher by 61%. Only Utilities stocks are below their 2/19/20 levels on an average basis.

We would note that while the major indices are still up a lot from their pre-COVID highs, many individual stocks have been giving up their post-COVID gains recently. Below we show the percentage of stocks in the Russell 3,000 that are down from their closing level on 2/19/20. In the Russell 3,000 as a whole, more than a third of the index (36%) is now down from pre-COVID levels. More than 50% of Health Care, Real Estate, and Utilities stocks are down from 2/19/20 prices. Materials stocks have been the best at holding onto post-COVID gains with just 16.8% of stocks in the sector lower than where they were trading on 2/19/20.

Below is a list of stocks with market caps above $5 billion that are down the most from the level they were trading at two years ago when markets peaked before COVID hit on 2/19/20. These are stocks that in hindsight certainly haven't benefited from the COVID economy. Some may seem obvious like cruise stocks (NCLH, CCL), but digital health company Teladoc (TDOC) is also on the list with a 44% drop since COVID hit!