Anyone who has held a stock through a crash knows the relief of seeing it climb again. It feels like the damage is undone. Usually it isn’t. A stock that loses half its value must double just to break even.
That math is playing out across the S&P 500. The index’s 25 worst performers fell an average of 42.4% in the first half, according to Bespoke Investment Group data cited by Seeking Alpha. Since July, they’ve rebounded 34.6%. Bespoke described the group as a mix of consumer stocks and software names that investors expected AI to make obsolete.
Yet the group is still down about 22% for the year. A big rally on a shrunken base does not refill the hole.
Measured from 2025 closing prices, only three of the 25 are up for the year. They are Palantir Technologies (PLTR), ServiceNow (NOW), and PTC (PTC), and each got there a different way.
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Palantir earned its comeback with a blowout quarter
Palantir, which sells data software to governments and businesses, began 2026 at 155 times trailing earnings, according to 24/7 Wall St. Shares slid even as first-quarter revenue grew 85% because investors doubted the price, not the business.
The second quarter changed that debate. Revenue jumped 93% to $1.94 billion, according to Palantir’s earnings release. It also lifted its full-year forecast to about $8.15 billion, and CEO Alex Karp called the quarter “otherworldly.”
Palantir is up about 12% for 2026. It trades about 6% below its 52-week high of $212.94 and far above its low of $106.37, according to StockAnalysis.
Valuation is the catch. Palantir trades at about 105 times expected earnings. Its 30 analysts rate it a Buy, with a $207.62 average target. That leaves little upside before results on Monday, Nov. 2, which already face a high bar.
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ServiceNow’s cushion is thin heading into earnings
ServiceNow, whose software runs IT and HR tasks at big companies, took two hits.
First came the “SaaSpocalypse,” a sell-off on fears that businesses would build their own software with AI. S&P 500 software stocks fell more than 26% from late January to April, Reuters reported.
The second hit was its own. Shares fell nearly 15% on April 23, after ServiceNow blamed delayed Middle East deals for slower subscription growth, according to Reuters.
Results repaired the damage. Second quarter subscription revenue rose 24.5% to $3.88 billion, and the company raised its outlook, according to its earnings release.
Still, the comeback is fragile. ServiceNow sits less than 2% above its 2025 close of $153.19. It trades about 19% below its 52-week high of $192.97 and well above its low of $81.24.
The 49 analysts there rate it a Strong Buy, yet their average target of $156.54 matches today’s price. At about 35 times expected earnings, ServiceNow costs a third of Palantir’s multiple. Its report on Oct. 28 will decide whether it stays on this list.
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PTC’s comeback came from a buyer, not a turnaround
PTC makes the design software engineers use to build cars and factory equipment. Its software segment sank in the first half, even as recurring revenue kept growing, according to its third-quarter results.
On Oct. 5, Schneider Electric (SBGSY) agreed to buy PTC for $205 per share in cash, according to PTC. The price was a 42.3% premium to PTC’s prior close.
Without that bid, PTC would still be down about 17% for 2026, based on that premium and its 2025 close of $174.21. The stock did not recover. It was rescued.
PTC expects the deal to close by the third quarter of 2027, so the stock trades about 5% below the offer. Its 52-week range runs from $108.50 to $206.67, according to StockAnalysis, so Schneider’s price still sits below that high.
Analysts rate PTC a Hold, with a $201 average target close to the deal price.
The rest of the list shows a bounce is not a recovery
The other 22 stocks split two ways, based on Bespoke’s figures. Software names such as Accenture rallied hard but mostly have not climbed out of the hole, while several consumer brands kept falling.
- More than doubling wasn’t enough for Accenture (ACN). Its 107.9% second-half gain followed a 53.6% drop, leaving it below its starting point, based on Bespoke’s figures.
- Nike’s turnaround is dragging. Nike (NKE) fell another 6.7% in the second half, according to Bespoke, after CEO Elliott Hill said in March that the turnaround was “taking longer than I’d like,” amid tariffs and weak China sales, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- Rivals are winning over yoga shoppers. Lululemon Athletica (LULU) fell another 8.9% in the second half after cutting its sales forecast for the second time this year, as Americas revenue dropped 8% and Alo Yoga and Vuori gained ground, Reuters reported.
- Cable fared worst. Charter Communications (CHTR) lost another 21.4% after a 31.9% first-half decline, as wireless carriers pulled away home internet customers with fixed-wireless deals, Reuters noted. Charter lost 172,000 internet customers in the second quarter alone, according to Quartz.
Owners of the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) held all 25 throughout. Few noticed, because the winners carried the average.
The bigger lesson is what ended these slumps. Palantir and ServiceNow needed earnings proof, and PTC needed a buyer.
When markets dump an entire industry on one fear, corporate buyers start doing the math investors abandoned.
Silver Lake is reportedly in talks to buy another stock on the list, Workday (WDAY), as Reuters confirmed. This suggests that Schneider won’t be the last.
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