While shares of publicly held electrical manufacturers, distributors and contractors are tracking toward some nice gains through the end of 3Q 2024, only contractor stocks as a group beat the S&P 500 Index, which enjoyed gains of +21.4% year-to-date and +34.4% year-over-year through Sept. 30. Electrical Marketing tracks the shares of 48 publicly held electrical manufacturers, distributors and contractors, as well as big-box stores and online merchants (see chart below). Here’s a look at the top performers through 3Q 2024.
Manufacturers
Thirteen of the 32 stocks of electrical manufacturers topped the S&P 500 Index YTD, but the category as a whole lagged the S&P by seven points through Sept. 30. The electrical manufacturer stocks powering through 2024 with returns of better than +30% include GE Vernova (GEV), GE’s power business spin-off, which logged gains on +79.5% YTD; Nexans SA (NEX.PA) and its YTD return of approximately +68%; Eaton Corp. (ETN), which gained +38.7%; Dialight (DIA.L) , up +38.4%; Acuity Brands (AYI), up +35.26; ABB (ABB) and its gain of +32.87%; Schneider Electric (SU.PA) which increased +32.04%; and Hubbell, up 31.52% to $428.34 per share. Over the past few years, Hubbell has probably been the most consistent performer on Wall Street, as its shares have been up more than +200% since 2019.
Distributors
WESCO (WCC) shares have taken a tumble YTD with a -3.5% increase through 3Q 2024, while Rexel (RXL.PA) enjoyed better than +20% growth YTD and YOY. W.W. Grainger’s (GWW) share price growth outpaced all of the other distributor stocks through the end of Sept. 2024, with gains of +26.9% YTD and +50.2%. Fastenal (FAST) which has typically been among the leaders in this category has had a quiet year, with its YTD growth coming in at +5.4%. On a YOY basis, its shares fared better with growth of +30.7% YOY.
Contractors
The selection of publicly held contractors stocks that Electrical Marketing monitors beat the S&P in spectacular fashion, logging YTD gains of +70.3% and YOY gains of +79.4%. EMCOR (EME) and IES Holdings (IESC) were the life of the party in this category, with YTD gains of +102.6% and +154.6%, respectively. Their YOY gains were every bit as impressive, with IES Holdings up an incredible +203.1% and EMCOR up +104.6% since Sept. 2023. Quanta Services (PWR) also had impressive gains with increases in its shares of +41.2% YTD and +59.3% YOY.