45% of S&P 500 Stocks Show Negative Beta as Mega-Cap Concentration Warps Index Signals
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Sep 28
45% of S&P 500 Stocks Show Negative Beta as Mega-Cap Concentration Warps Index Signals
2 articles · Updated · CNBC · Sep 28
Summary
About 45% of S&P 500 stocks now have a negative three-month beta, Goldman Sachs said, meaning nearly half have moved opposite the index despite the benchmark hovering near records.
Mega-cap tech and AI winners are driving that split: a small group of heavily weighted stocks can lift the S&P 500 even as many smaller constituents fall or swing independently.
The divergence is showing up in market breadth too — on a day the S&P 500 rose 1.5% last week, 30 stocks hit 52-week lows while only 7 made new highs, a setup last seen in December 1999.
Energy has become another major source of negative-beta behavior, with higher oil prices lifting energy shares while the broader market weakens; Evercore earlier this month flagged 115 such stocks.
Strategists expect the extreme readings to ease if leadership broadens, but they say elevated dispersion may persist as investors stay concentrated in AI-linked names rather than reading the index as a broad market signal.