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The stock market is a fickle friend. Investors across eras and strategic spectrums can gain a lot from staying in the market, even when things aren't going according to plan. In fact, some of the most common advice you'll receive regarding your investment journey is to stay in the game when the market melts down. Surviving a recession or market crash is all about understanding that hard times don't last, which is something Wall Street pros inherently understand and many retail investors miss.
If you've invested in index funds or ETFs, you're likely leveraged pretty hard into the S&P 500. This is an index that tracks the 500 largest public companies in the United States and is frequently considered the de facto representation of stock market performance as a whole. The index has delivered an annualized return of over 10% since the 1950s, with an inflation-adjusted figure of around 7%. As of July 2026, the S&P 500 has delivered a year-to-date (YTD) return of 10.66%, providing a strong start to the first half of the year for investors even amid plenty of uncertainty and potentially damaging events that threaten stock value over both the short and long term. Warfare, for instance, impacts stocks in unpredictable ways. With the continued conflict with Iran and other global conflicts simmering away alongside continued growth toward an AI bubble, investors have a lot to think about. That includes potentially getting in on individual stocks that are underperforming or pivoting out of definitive losers. It's hard to know what the future holds for strong underperformers, but these are the S&P 500 stocks at the bottom of the barrel as of early July 2026.
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Intuit (INTU)
Intuit is the worst performer of any stock within the S&P 500 as of mid-2026. The financial services company owns an impressive portfolio of widely recognized brands including TurboTax and QuickBooks. But Intuit is struggling through major, market-wide disruptions by new AI systems and a securities fraud investigation, to boot. Recent AI scares have led to downsizing across the corporate world and numerous worries over the viability of business segments that can seemingly be replaced wholesale by AI tools. Budget management is one of these areas, with the essential task boiling down largely to basic math problems. Of course, there's no replacement for human effort, but Intuit's products are designed to smooth out the need for this input already, placing the company in a unique position of long-term jeopardy.
The brand has lost around 57% of its share price through early July 2026. However, analysts are somewhat bullish on the company, anticipating a rebound over the next yearlong trading period with an upside of around 67%, per Insider Monkey (via Yahoo Finance). Ultimately, this means that investors could see Intuit's value jump significantly by investing during this prolonged trough in pricing. The value you might find from Intuit comes down to your outlook on AI's future as a market displacer, and expectations over TurboTax pricing. The company reportedly undersold its product to lower-income filers — those reporting under $50,000 in income and filing themselves rather than with a professional service — during the 2026 tax season. This finding could result in increased pricing for TurboTax's services in 2027, which in turn could increase Intuit stock's volatility, for better or worse.
CoStar (CSGP)
CoStar (CSGP) is a subscription-based data analysis and marketing brand focused on managing commercial real estate. The brand also manages transactions in this space, acting as a sort of brokerage arena to facilitate movement. CoStar's fortunes are decidedly unimpressive through the first half of the year. The announcement of its launch in the French property market saw some price relief, but the company crashed through its 52-week low in late June to accompany an overall return of roughly -56% YTD.
The downward spiral of its pricing movement comes as a result of a difficult slate of pressures. AI disruptions are a key factor here, and that will prove true for many other companies that have the dubious honor of making this list. CoStar has also dealt with a legal fight against Zillow and other distractions outside of the direct business operations that produce the company's revenue. Even so, the brand continues to increase its sales on a consistent basis, and a significant insider purchase took place in 2026, according to a late June report by Seeking Alpha (SA).
Boston Scientific (BSX)
As of early July 2026, Boston Scientific (BSX) is down roughly 55% — far from where it was at the outset of 2026. The brand's one-year return is only slightly worse, with a plateau emerging through much of 2025 before sharply declining back to the pricing threshold that existed through 2022 and '23. BSX's misfortune in the market appears to be due to a slowdown in growth that has triggered a calamitous halt to the stock's soaring performance. Seeking Alpha reported in June that medical device brands target a floor of 10% annual growth with targets for many typically doubling that number. Yet, Boston Scientific is on pace for a growth figure of 8% at its highest estimate.
Even with a cratering of stock value, questions over its long-term forecast, and little growth in price from the 52-week low it reached on June 30, 2026, Boston Scientific feels like a stock pick that's undervalued. The brand's forward price-to-earning (P/E) ratio is around 13 as of early July, and key competitors in the space all sport higher figures: Medtronic at roughly 14, Stryker at around 21, and Abbott Laboratories at around 17. This isn't a standalone measurement tool, but P/E ratios do offer a glimpse into value relative to others in the sector and the stock market more broadly. SA's analysis places its fair price point at somewhere in the $50s or $60s, offering at least decent upside potential alongside a warning that returning value of this sort could take some time.
Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH)
Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) is a business process brand that offers software products, IT management, key process operations, and AI data analytics. The common refrain of attaching AI tools to the brand's output is a telling sign of stock pricing struggles in the present market. AI integrations are not cheap, and they can be a red flag for many people looking for options to support their business or personal needs. In September 2025 Pew Research Center found that just 10% of Americans are "more excited than concerned" about the increased use of AI in daily life. And yet, companies are continuing to pour energy and financial resources into beefing up their suite of AI products.
Cognizant has been perhaps overzealous in its adoption of AI tools to augment its products, helping to push its Class A share price to a new 52-week low of $37.08 on June 30. This comes after shattering through a six-year low of $45.97 the previous May. As of early July 2026, Cognizant's pricing is in the low $40s, with a YTD return of around -47%.
Accenture (ACN)
The Accenture (ACN) consultancy brand was a strong performer for many years, growing steadily throughout the 2010s. In July 2026, it trades with a forward P/E ratio of around 11 while suffering a five-year stagnation and a value hammering in the last of that period. The company's YTD return is pretty brutal, at around -49%, and its one-year return is even worse. The company's misfortune is a classic case of the AI industry's shakeup of traditional analytical power. Accenture is a massive name in consulting, and its analysts have their fingerprints on everything from digital marketing to IT system management and financial analysis. Accenture supports business strategy development and its implementation. However, the human capital of these operations is often expensive, and investors are spooked over the ability of AI to replace at least some of this cost structure and work, upending the business model of consultancy firms like Accenture in the process.
Accenture may not be a brand that many investors feel particularly confident about at present, but the company is on an upward trajectory in some respects. Trefis reports Accenture's revenue stream has grown by 13% over its YTD performance from 2025, with 104 significant client deals on the books in 2026 so far and a quarterly value north of $100 million. The company also suggests that some of its significant partnerships, and therefore revenue-generating deals, have been shifted into 2027's calculations rather than 2026's. This signals that, while short-term negative pressure is pancaking value today, that may not continue into the mid or long term.
The Trade Desk (TTD)
The Trade Desk (TTD) is experiencing similar downward pressure to many other technology service industry names. The Trade Desk automates and offers a digital platform to manage advertising campaigns. The outlet helps companies buy advertising blocks in a marketplace environment that extends across platforms while remaining a third-party connection rather than the owner of one or more channels a buyer might consider advertising through. The outlet has heavily integrated AI tools into its services, and these integrations may be a painful sticking point in TTD's expenses. Most pressingly, though, The Trade Desk appears to be slipping in its positioning among rival competitors for market share.
The company's YTD return stands at around -49% in July 2026, with a near-continuous slide extending even further back to yield a one-year return of almost -75% after a massive price cut in early August 2025. The hurt likely isn't over for the brand. Numerous outlets have downgraded their sentiment for TTD, with Arete Research naming it a sell with a 38% downside price target at the end of June (via Trading View). This does make for a potentially interesting short opportunity for traders experienced in that arm of the market, however.
Gartner (IT)
Gartner (IT) is yet another technology firm that delivers analytical products to enterprise consumers. The brand consults on market research and more to deliver advice directly to clients. It also generates and distributes research products like its Magic Quadrant that evaluates emergent technology brands. In 2026, Gartner has suffered a painful return of around -46% as of July, continuing a longer slide over the full preceding year of roughly -64%.
Some analysts see Gartner as undervalued at present, which is good news for the analytics brand. It's trading with a forward P/E ratio of over 10 as of this writing, indicating that this position may indeed be correct. Even so, there remain some systemic hurdles in front of any kind of financial comeback for the company. The meteoric loss of stock value came about last year as a result of stressors from AI tools. Firms across the board are looking to cut costs on subscription tools that AI may be able to offer for a reduced price, and IT services and analytical products centered on technology — Gartner's bread and butter — have been caught in the crosshairs. Government contracts have also dried up to some degree as a result of spending cuts in the public sector, leading to a squeeze on Gartner's financials. Some users online have also questioned the utility and cost of the brand's services, so it may be a great candidate to experience additional hurt in the months ahead via these same channels. That said, Simply Wall Street reported in mid-July that the company's share price may be undervalued to the tune of almost 60%, and its analysis shows potential returns could reach 7% per year.
Lululemon Athletica (LULU)
Down roughly 43% from the start of 2026 and over 75% off its December 2023 highwater mark, Lululemon Athletica (LULU) is something of an outlier on this list of the year's biggest losers. Unlike most of its peers on this list, Lululemon isn't a technology company or a brand that pumps out subscription-based products or content. The sportswear brand's instability appears to be centered on turmoil within its leadership group and a waning popularity within the U.S. marketplace. Lululemon products are famously expensive, and continued concerns over gas prices and other economic factors may be playing a role in denting the brand's sales figures in the present marketplace.
Most pressingly, in early June, the company posted both a reduction in its annual forecast and lower-than-expected earnings for the first quarter of the year. Later that month, the brand hit a 52-week low of $104.44 and wiped out years of healthy share price gains. As of early Summer 2026, its shares are trading at the lowest we've seen since 2018. However, Lululemon has applied for relief in the form of tariff refunds, and plans to reduce in-store options to better highlight new ranges. These efforts may spark at least a moderate turnaround, though the company is also facing a class-action lawsuit from customers regarding its potential tariff refund, which could add to its existing financial turmoil.
Insulet (PODD)
Insulet (PODD) is a medical device company, and its flagship product is the Omnipod system. The patch-worn insulin delivery tool automatically provides the drug to people who need it to regulate diabetes. Unfortunately, Insulet is experiencing a lengthy downturn in its stock performance thanks to a variety of systemic troubles.
Chief among its contemporary woes is a self-assessed recall for its Omnipod 5 system due to under-delivery of insulin. Yet, the stock's drop in value was perhaps a long time coming even before this concern was made public. Seeking Alpha rated the brand as a sell in May 2025, suggesting that it had become overvalued and was a prime candidate for future price correction. That has since come to pass, with its slump beginning a little later in the year.
PODD has skidded to a YTD return of almost -44%, but the brand is seemingly experiencing something of a pricing floor in July 2026. The company crashed into its 52-week low in late June, but has since consolidated its position around this pricing area and gained traction. Furthermore, while the recall may not be great publicity for Insulet, the fact that it voluntarily made the move to protect its clients instead of waiting for more serious consequences and a forced decision could speak to the brand's trustworthiness moving forward.
Leidos (LDOS)
Leidos (LDOS) is primarily a government contractor working within a broad subset of outsourced needs from governmental actors. The brand operates in the United States, but also plays a role in plenty of other foreign marketplaces, including the U.K. and Australia. Leidos lives and dies by the value of government spending, and at the moment, the company's share price is getting hammered as a result of a few key changes in U.S. federal priorities. For one thing, spending has slowed and concerns over the future budgeting priorities for military and defense spending has created some hesitation surrounding firms tied intimately into this ecosystem. More pointedly, Leidos has recently lost its place as the lead for the Defense Health Agency's electronic records contracts — a role it had held for over 10 years.
As of July, LDOS is down over 40% from the beginning of 2026, though its one-year return is considerably higher at around -35%. The changes the company is going through may be jarring, but it's not likely detrimental to the brand's long-term value. As grim as it might seem, investors who don't see an impending end to American involvement in its current conflict engagements, in particular, might be wise to view Leidos as an undervalued investment opportunity.
Salesforce (CRM)
From January to July 2026, Salesforce (CRM) is down around 37%. This comes on the heels of a yearlong period broken into a notable stagnation followed by the current slide, resulting in a similar 52-week return. What's odd about Salesforce's current predicament is that the brand is continuing to perform fairly well in its sales and other financial figures. The brand delivers subscription-based software packages customized to the needs of enterprise clients, and most consumers have probably heard the name before. Countless workers commuting to office jobs work with at least one Salesforce product in their daily tasks, with Girikon reporting that over 150,000 companies worldwide utilize the brand's software platforms.
However, Salesforce operates with a per-user subscription model. A brand looking to use the company's suite of tools will pay for individual licenses to provide workplace assets to its employees. Naturally, the rise of concerns over AI making large teams redundant has created a ripple effect that continues to shake confidence in brands selling licenses in this format. If companies across the board can slash the size of their workforces, then brands like Salesforce can only increase prices to maintain stability. With fewer people needing access, there's nothing a service provider can do to boost volume beyond charging more or expanding the variety of products or sectors it can cover — which is an expensive expansion process that isn't guaranteed to pay off. The result is an increased level of risk that isn't likely to be resolved in the near future.
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