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Can Sandisk do the double?

The S&P 500 just had its worst quarter in years. Here are the biggest winners and losers.

Sandisk and energy stocks soared while software names sank amid a broad sell-off in tech stocks.

The S&P 500 just wrapped up its worst quarter since Q3 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled markets, falling 4.6% in the first three months of 2026. That’s a sharp reversal from last year’s roughly 18% gain, which marked a third straight year of double-digit returns.

Indeed, in a market rattled by soaring oil prices and growing fears of a tech sell-off, no stock stood out more than the flash memory maker that joined the S&P 500 last November. Sandisk topped the benchmark index with a staggering 168% gain in Q1, following a whopping 559% total return in 2025. That puts it on track to top the S&P 500 list back-to-back — a feat that, according to our analysis, no stock has ever accomplished.

The rally has been fueled by insatiable demand from hyperscalers, whose data centers rely on the company’s flash storage to train and serve AI models. The broader memory and optical cohort followed suit, with Lumentum (up 91%), Ciena (up 66%), Western Digital (up 57%) — from which Sandisk was spun off last year — and Seagate (up 42%) all landing in the top 20 performers of the quarter.

Another group of high-flying stocks came from the energy sector, which just posted its second-best quarter on record relative to the S&P 500 ETF since 1999. Fifteen of the top 30 performers were energy and chemical stocks, including APA (up 74%), Occidental Petroleum (up 58%), and Valero (up 52%), as the conflict in the Middle East sent crude prices soaring well above $100 a barrel. 

At the other end of the leaderboard, AppLovin, the ad tech firm that surged 108% in 2025, became the worst performer, with a 41% decline in Q1 as short seller reports, a federal investigation, and the broader software collapse weighed on the stock throughout the quarter.

Many of the software names that dominated 2025 were also hammered by the so-called “Saaspocalypse” earlier this year, as the rise of agentic AI fueled fears that enterprise software firms could eventually be displaced. Software and software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies accounted for more than half of the bottom 20 performers in Q1, including Trade Desk (down 40%), Workday (down 40%), Adobe (down 31%), and Salesforce (down 30%).

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Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemons geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected halo effect across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemons valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retails richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi ONeill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brands growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

markets

US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

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