Moderna leads the top-performing stocks as the S&P 500 doubles from its pandemic low

Published Tue, Aug 17 20217:30 AM EDTUpdated Tue, Aug 17 202110:45 AM EDT

At a closing price of 4,479.71 on Monday, the S & P 500 officially doubled from its March 2020 pandemic-era low. All but seven stocks saw gains over that period, with the biggest winners split across a group of health-care and consumer discretionary names. No equity notched stronger returns than drugmaker Moderna , a CNBC analysis of market data shows. It is up more than 1,300% since closing at $26.57 on March 23, 2020. The stock was added to the S & P 500 on July 21, 2021, amid the rollout of its Covid vaccine, and has risen 16% since then despite experiencing a volatile August with five days of share-price moves greater than 5% in either direction. Hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller added new positions in Moderna in the second quarter, according to regulatory filings released Monday. Four consumer plays follow Moderna in the list of top stocks, each of which are up at least 590%: Caesars Entertainment , Bath & Body Works , Tesla , and Penn National Gaming . The S & P 500 hit its Covid trough of 2,237.40 on March 23, 2020, during the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, the index's fastest 30% drop in history . It has rallied 100% since then amid unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus along with strong corporate earnings growth, marking the fastest bull-market doubling off a bottom since World War II , according to a CNBC analysis of data from S & P 500 Global. The materials sector led the rebound with a 123% return, and that group's top stocks since March 2020 include Freeport-McMoRan, Albemarle Corp., and Nucor Corp., each up more than 330%. The technology sector led the early stage of the historic market rebound with a 120% return from its pandemic bottom. The small group of negative stocks is led by Citrix Systems at a loss of 16%, followed by Las Vegas Sands Corp., Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Viatris, Perrigo, Gilead Sciences and Clorox , which was a big winner for months at the start of the pandemic but has since faded. —CNBC's Yun Li contributed reporting.