These Were the Best and Worst S&P 500 Stocks in February -- Barrons.com

By Nate Wolf and Mackenzie Tatananni

The shortest month of the year came with plenty of drama for the stock market. The S&P 500 lingered just below the 7000 mark throughout February, and tariff turmoil and concerns that artificial intelligence may upend the economy continue to weigh on stocks heading into March.

Here were the best and worst performers in the large-cap index in February as of Friday's opening bell.

Texas Pacific Land claimed the top spot in the S&P 500 in February, rising 48%. Long one of the largest landowners in Texas, the company has set its sights on putting data centers in the state's petroleum-rich Permian Basin. Texas Pacific reported record oil and gas royalties, water sales volume, and produced water royalties for the fourth quarter and said it is having discussions with developers and potential customers for data-center projects.

Corning rose 45% in February, topping its dot-com-era record closing high. The glass maker has been a key beneficiary of the AI boom and the rotation into hardware stocks from software. Demand for the company's cabling and fiber is surging amid the country's unprecedented data-center buildout.

Keysight Technologies surged 41% on the month, driven by a blockbuster earnings report on Feb. 23. The maker of test equipment for electronics posted better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its fiscal first quarter and lifted its fiscal-year guidance. The performance-testing needs for AI infrastructure was one reason for Keysight's strong growth.

DaVita, a longtime Berkshire Hathaway holding, jumped 39% in February. The kidney dialysis company got a lift after it breezed past expectations for fourth-quarter earnings. Dialysis volume stagnated in 2025, but the company is trying to chart a way back to 2% non-acquired volume growth.

Generac Holdings climbed 38%. The backup power provider missed earnings expectations for the fourth quarter due to a lack of power outages and lower shipments of home and portable generators. The company made up for the miss with momentum in the data-center end market and a 2026 outlook that exceeded expectations.

As for the biggest losers, EPAM Systems tumbled 35% in February, making it the worst performing stock in the index. The losses include a 20% drop on Thursday alone, which came after EPAM beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates but issued soft guidance. Shares had already been beaten down amid a broad-based selloff in shares of consulting companies amid fears of AI disruption.

CoStar Group plunged 27%. Shares fell at the start of the month after the D.E. Shaw Group accused CoStar's board of refusing to address "the company's reckless spending of shareholder capital and significant and longstanding underperformance." The hedge fund pledged to raise these concerns at the company's annual meeting. Shares fell yet again on Feb. 25 due to weak financial guidance for the coming year.

Gartner, down 27% for the month, it isn't a surprising addition to the list. Gartner was a bottom performer in 2025, and its woes have only deepened. The company's shares slipped yet again in February as Gartner provided a tepid outlook for 2026 and posted quarterly earnings that failed to impress Wall Street.

Biotech stock IQVIA Holdings slumped 26%. The company's adjusted earnings guidance for 2026 missed analysts' expectations, sending shares down nearly 11% on Feb. 5. Shares have failed to close above $200 since the start of the month. However, the stock has closed higher for several sessions following an announcement that IQVIA would acquire certain drug discovery assets from Charles River Laboratories.

Workday rounded out the list of worst performers, falling 25% in February. Workday has been yet another victim of the software slump, with shares declining pretty consistently throughout the month. Workday posted quarterly earnings after the bell on Feb. 24, which failed to lift the stock higher and initially sent it in the opposite direction.

Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com and Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

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February 27, 2026 13:50 ET (18:50 GMT)

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