Historically, the S&P 500’s performance in January sets the pace for the rest of the year. According to Jared Blikre, Yahoo Finance Markets Editor, the S&P 500 returned nearly 17% in January, which is pretty impressive because a positive January usually translates as a positive year for the markets. Jared also added that while the energy and utilities sectors are lagging, the communication services and healthcare segments are showing signs of strength.
At the same time, while the S&P 500 remained positive at the end of January, some stocks declined due to various reasons especially the launch of the Chinese OpenAI rival, DeepSeek, and new regulations amid the new administration.
15 companies in diverse sectors such as the financials, biotechnology, healthcare, technology, and energy industries, declined due to unsupportive market conditions, macroeconomic environment, and other factors. That said, let’s take a look at the 15 stocks that took a nosedive in January.
To come up with the 15 names, we only considered stocks with a market capitalization of more than $2 billion. We then shortlisted the stocks based on their performance in the past quarter and picked the 15 with the largest 30-day decline from January 3, 2024, to February 3, 2025.
At Insider Monkey we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
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These 15 Stocks Took a Nosedive in January
15. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)
30-day Decline as of February 3, 2025: 23.6%
Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) is one of the stocks that nosedived in January, going from $42.98 to $32.75 on February 3. VKTX is a biotechnology company that is committed to the development of treatments for patients suffering from metabolic and endocrine disorders.
The stock surged significantly in the past year, by nearly 28%, but it has been on a downward trajectory for some months now, down 40% over the past six months and nearly 24% over the past thirty days. This has led investors and analysts to think that the stock had been overbought previously due to its revolutionary therapies yet to be launched.
Although Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) may take some time to start showing sound financial performance, analysts remain bullish on the stock, with their median price target representing an upside of 249%. In addition, analyst firms like B. Riley and Jefferies celebrate shared optimism about the stock thanks to its robust obesity therapy pipeline, expecting the stock to more than double.
14. PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG)
30-day Decline as of February 3, 2025: 24.7%
PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) is a gas company that engages in the sale and delivery of natural gas and electric services to residential and business customers in Northern and Central California.
The stock marked a 24.7% decline in its share price over the past 30 days, going from $20.4 to $15.37 on February 3. On January 27, Nicholas Campanella, an analyst at Barclays, lowered his price target on PCG from $24 to $23, keeping an overweight rating on the stock. While the analyst firm is bullish on the sector, he suggests that the valuations are not demanding.
Similarly, on January 30, analyst firm UBS cut its price target of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) from $24 to $22, keeping a buy rating on the stock. The decision to reduce the firm’s price target came after rising concerns over the durability and stability of the California wildfire fund because of fires outside of the company’s territory.