Which stocks hold up when the market falls?
A stock that loses less in the market’s bad weeks needs a smaller recovery to get back to even, and it is easier to hold through a sell-off. Comparing how much it gives up in down weeks with how much it gains in up weeks shows what that protection costs.
Updated Oct 9, 2026
184 fall less than half as much
Over the past three years the S&P 500 fell in 63 of 156 weeks, by 1.4% on average. The typical stock fell 75% as much in those weeks; 184 fell less than half as much.
The 60 best at holding up
Ranked by down capture: how much of the S&P 500’s down-week losses each stock shared. Below 0% means it rose on average when the market fell. Select a row for its chart. Select a column to sort.
| Stock | In sell-offs | Down capture | Up capture | Beta | 3Y return | Sector | 3 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KR Kroger | 100Holds up | -85% | -22% | -0.17 | +40% | Consumer Staples | |
| PM Philip Morris International | 100Holds up | -82% | 10% | -0.02 | +118% | Consumer Staples | |
| CF CF Industries | 100Holds up | -79% | -18% | -0.18 | +32% | Materials | |
| XOM ExxonMobil | 99Holds up | -71% | -7% | 0.00 | +54% | Energy | |
| TRGP Targa Resources | 99Holds up | -66% | 52% | 0.36 | +229% | Energy | |
| MO Altria | 99Holds up | -60% | 5% | -0.09 | +68% | Consumer Staples | |
| VLO Valero Energy | 99Holds up | -59% | 64% | 0.47 | +244% | Energy | |
| DVN Devon Energy | 99Holds up | -54% | -17% | 0.03 | 0% | Energy | |
| DGX Quest Diagnostics | 98Holds up | -54% | 15% | 0.06 | +89% | Health Care | |
| MCK McKesson Corporation | 98Holds up | -47% | 25% | 0.19 | +103% | Health Care | |
| ED Consolidated Edison | 98Holds up | -46% | -12% | -0.22 | +21% | Utilities | |
| ETR Entergy | 98Holds up | -44% | 31% | 0.21 | +120% | Utilities | |
| MPC Marathon Petroleum | 98Holds up | -43% | 60% | 0.46 | +207% | Energy | |
| APA APA Corporation | 97Holds up | -41% | 9% | 0.14 | +11% | Energy | |
| DUK Duke Energy | 97Holds up | -39% | -2% | -0.11 | +32% | Utilities | |
| AEP American Electric Power | 97Holds up | -39% | 14% | -0.03 | +65% | Utilities | |
| WELL Welltower | 97Holds up | -39% | 47% | 0.30 | +165% | Real Estate | |
| AWK American Water Works | 97Holds up | -38% | -13% | -0.15 | +9% | Utilities | |
| FE FirstEnergy | 96Holds up | -36% | -2% | 0.01 | +26% | Utilities | |
| BG Bunge Global | 96Holds up | -34% | -14% | 0.06 | +1% | Consumer Staples | |
| EXC Exelon | 96Holds up | -33% | -13% | -0.08 | +5% | Utilities | |
| EVRG Evergy | 96Holds up | -31% | 17% | 0.14 | +62% | Utilities | |
| WRB W. R. Berkley Corporation | 96Holds up | -31% | 22% | 0.20 | +69% | Financials | |
| SO Southern Company | 95Holds up | -31% | 2% | -0.03 | +29% | Utilities | |
| COR Cencora | 95Holds up | -28% | 24% | 0.12 | +71% | Health Care | |
| T AT&T | 95Holds up | -28% | 18% | 0.04 | +54% | Communication Services | |
| PPL PPL Corporation | 95Holds up | -27% | 11% | 0.12 | +43% | Utilities | |
| WEC WEC Energy Group | 95Holds up | -27% | 2% | 0.01 | +26% | Utilities | |
| OXY Occidental Petroleum | 94Holds up | -27% | -10% | 0.08 | −7% | Energy | |
| PNW Pinnacle West Capital | 94Holds up | -26% | 6% | 0.08 | +31% | Utilities | |
| XEL Xcel Energy | 94Holds up | -26% | 5% | 0.12 | +25% | Utilities | |
| EOG EOG Resources | 94Holds up | -26% | -1% | 0.12 | +11% | Energy | |
| D Dominion Energy | 94Holds up | -25% | 15% | 0.16 | +47% | Utilities | |
| WM Waste Management | 93Holds up | -25% | 7% | 0.06 | +31% | Industrials | |
| ABBV AbbVie | 93Holds up | -25% | 35% | 0.09 | +87% | Health Care | |
| AEE Ameren | 93Holds up | -23% | 8% | 0.11 | +31% | Utilities | |
| CMS CMS Energy | 93Holds up | -22% | 2% | -0.02 | +21% | Utilities | |
| ATO Atmos Energy | 93Holds up | -22% | 14% | 0.13 | +44% | Utilities | |
| FANG Diamondback Energy | 92Holds up | -22% | 11% | 0.20 | +15% | Energy | |
| TPL Texas Pacific Land Corporation | 92Holds up | -20% | 30% | 0.54 | +73% | Energy | |
| JNJ Johnson & Johnson | 92Holds up | -18% | 27% | 0.06 | +67% | Health Care | |
| COP ConocoPhillips | 92Holds up | -16% | 4% | 0.22 | +7% | Energy | |
| NI NiSource | 92Holds up | -16% | 24% | 0.24 | +58% | Utilities | |
| PSX Phillips 66 | 91Holds up | -16% | 66% | 0.52 | +152% | Energy | |
| CAH Cardinal Health | 91Holds up | -16% | 58% | 0.33 | +155% | Health Care | |
| CVX Chevron Corporation | 91Holds up | -15% | 14% | 0.23 | +29% | Energy | |
| DTE DTE Energy | 91Holds up | -15% | 11% | 0.08 | +30% | Utilities | |
| RTX RTX Corporation | 91Holds up | -14% | 60% | 0.54 | +154% | Industrials | |
| LNT Alliant Energy | 90Holds up | -14% | 13% | 0.09 | +32% | Utilities | |
| ADM Archer Daniels Midland | 90Holds up | -13% | 13% | 0.23 | +9% | Consumer Staples | |
| KMI Kinder Morgan | 90Holds up | -12% | 41% | 0.27 | +90% | Energy | |
| KO Coca-Cola Company (The) | 90Holds up | -10% | 31% | 0.10 | +66% | Consumer Staples | |
| CBOE Cboe Global Markets | 90Holds up | -10% | 45% | 0.14 | +88% | Financials | |
| ALL Allstate | 89Holds up | -9% | 43% | 0.33 | +91% | Financials | |
| CNP CenterPoint Energy | 89Holds up | -9% | 20% | 0.10 | +40% | Utilities | |
| CB Chubb Limited | 89Holds up | -8% | 30% | 0.17 | +62% | Financials | |
| VTR Ventas | 89Holds up | -8% | 42% | 0.25 | +89% | Real Estate | |
| CASY Casey's | 89Holds up | -6% | 66% | 0.44 | +143% | Consumer Staples | |
| NEE NextEra Energy | 88Holds up | -5% | 26% | 0.26 | +42% | Utilities | |
| RSG Republic Services | 88Holds up | -5% | 25% | 0.17 | +47% | Industrials |
How to read this page
How it’s measured. Weekly returns over three years for S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 stocks. Down capture is the stock’s average move in the S&P 500’s down weeks as a share of the index’s; up capture is the same for up weeks.
Sources. Daily prices from Financial Modeling Prep.
Down capture of 50% means the stock fell, on average, half as much as the S&P 500 in the weeks the index fell. Beta measures the same tendency across all weeks. Weekly moves beyond 15% are capped so a single company event doesn’t dominate.
In our research, holding up in one stretch of market stress did not reliably predict holding up in the next. This describes the past three years.
This page is information, not investment advice. About our data and methods ›