Is the Stock Market Rally Too Narrow?
When a few giant stocks carry the index, the S&P 500 can look healthier than the average stock. Here is how to measure breadth, what the data shows in 2026, and what narrow markets have meant before.
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Magnificent 7 vs the Other 493: Performance This Year
How Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Tesla compare with the rest of the S&P 500 in 2026 and every year since 2017, with the data and what it means for index investors.
Key takeaways
- In 2026 to Sep 30, the Magnificent 7 did not lead. Equal-weighted, they returned 10.5% vs 12.1% for the S&P 500 and 9.1% for the equal-weight S&P 500, a proxy for the average stock (Exent’s data).
- Results inside the group split widely: Apple +22.7% and NVIDIA +22.5%, while Tesla fell 21.1%.
- Over the longer run the gap was huge: the equal-weighted Mag 7 returned 36.5% a year from Jul 2016 to Sep 2026 vs 15.2% for the S&P 500, with a 45.1% loss in 2022.
- In 2023 and 2024 the group produced more than half of the S&P 500’s gain, according to WisdomTree.
Market risk reading, cross‑asset context and an events calendar: see Exent →
In this article
- How are the Magnificent 7 doing vs the other 493 this year?
- How has each Magnificent 7 stock performed in 2026?
- How did the Magnificent 7 compare with the S&P 500 each year?
- How much of the S&P 500’s return comes from the Magnificent 7?
- Are the Magnificent 7 riskier than the rest of the market?
- What does this mean for your portfolio?
How are the Magnificent 7 doing vs the other 493 this year?
Roughly in line with the index, and slightly ahead of the average stock. Total returns from Jan 1 to Sep 30, 2026, in Exent’s data:
| 2026 to Sep 30 | Return |
|---|---|
| S&P 500 (SPY) | +12.1% |
| Magnificent 7, weighted by size (approx.) | +11.5% |
| Magnificent 7, equal weight | +10.5% |
| Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) | +8.7% |
| Equal-weight S&P 500 (RSP), the average stock | +9.1% |
| Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | +20.6% |
The size‑weighted figure is an approximate calculation using start‑of‑year market values. The equal‑weight series is rebalanced in the backtest, so it differs slightly from the MAGS ETF.
There is no fund that holds exactly “the other 493”. The equal‑weight S&P 500 (RSP) is the usual stand‑in for the typical member, because each of the seven is only about 0.2% of it.
How has each Magnificent 7 stock performed in 2026?
| Stock | 2026 to Sep 30 | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple (AAPL) | +22.7% | +9.1% | +30.7% |
| NVIDIA (NVDA) | +22.5% | +38.9% | +171.3% |
| Alphabet (GOOGL) | +10.0% | +66.0% | +36.0% |
| Meta (META) | +10.0% | +13.1% | +66.0% |
| Amazon (AMZN) | +7.9% | +5.2% | +44.4% |
| Microsoft (MSFT) | +6.5% | +15.6% | +12.9% |
| Tesla (TSLA) | −21.1% | +11.4% | +62.5% |
Total returns as of Sep 30, 2026. The seven rarely move as one block. In 2025, Alphabet rose 66.0% while Amazon rose 5.2%. Treating them as one trade hides that spread. Per‑stock pages such as NVIDIA show risk and drawdown history.
How did the Magnificent 7 compare with the S&P 500 each year?
| Year | Mag 7, equal weight | S&P 500 (SPY) | Equal-weight S&P 500 (RSP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | +53.2% | +21.7% | +18.5% |
| 2018 | +0.7% | −4.6% | −7.8% |
| 2019 | +53.1% | +31.2% | +28.9% |
| 2020 | +116.5% | +18.3% | +12.6% |
| 2021 | +50.3% | +28.7% | +29.4% |
| 2022 | −45.1% | −18.2% | −11.6% |
| 2023 | +108.4% | +26.2% | +13.7% |
| 2024 | +60.9% | +24.9% | +12.8% |
| 2025 | +25.4% | +17.7% | +11.2% |
| 2026 to Sep 30 | +10.5% | +12.1% | +9.1% |
Backtest data. The equal‑weighted group beat the S&P 500 in 8 of the 9 full years from 2017 to 2025. So far in 2026 it is lagging, which only happened once before in the period, in 2022. The full backtest is on the Magnificent 7 strategy page.
Are the Magnificent 7 riskier than the rest of the market?
Yes, measured by swings and drawdowns. Backtest from Jul 2016 to Sep 2026:
| Jul 2016–Sep 2026 | Mag 7, equal weight | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| Annual return | 36.5% | 15.2% |
| Volatility | 26.3% | 15.2% |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.25 | 0.88 |
| Max drawdown (monthly) | −45.7% | −23.9% |
| 2022 | −45.1% | −18.2% |
The decade was exceptional for these companies, and that is past performance, not a guide to the next decade. The risk side is the part that tends to repeat: concentrated growth stocks fall harder when rates rise or earnings disappoint.
What does this mean for your portfolio?
Most investors own more Mag 7 than they think. An S&P 500 fund, a Nasdaq‑100 fund and a tech fund all hold the same names. In a sample of 144 retail portfolios analyzed by Exent, 54.2% held at least one Magnificent 7 stock directly, and NVIDIA was the most common single holding at 30.5%.
- Add up your look-through Mag 7 weight across funds and single stocks.
- Check how much of your last year’s return came from those seven names.
- Look at what your holdings did in 2022, the group’s worst year.
- Compare yourself with both the S&P 500 and an equal-weight benchmark.
The step‑by‑step check is in how much Mag 7 exposure do I have? and the breadth picture in is the rally too narrow?
How to follow the Mag 7 vs the 493 with Exent
- Market Intelligence tracks the Mag 7 against the other 493 day to day, with cited sources for the moves.
- Portfolio Analysis groups your Mag 7 stocks and the funds that move with them into correlation clusters; it does not look inside ETFs.
- Crash replays show how that cluster behaved in 2020, 2022 and 2025.
Frequently asked questions
Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Meta Platforms and Tesla. The name refers to their size and their outsized share of US stock market gains in recent years.
Not as a group. In Exent’s data, the equal-weighted Magnificent 7 returned 10.5% from Jan 1 to Sep 30, 2026, against 12.1% for the S&P 500. Apple and NVIDIA beat the index; Tesla, Microsoft and Amazon lagged it.
No fund tracks exactly the other 493, but the equal-weight S&P 500 is a common proxy for the typical member. It returned 9.1% in 2026 to Sep 30 in Exent’s data, below both the S&P 500 and the Magnificent 7.
WisdomTree estimated 15.8 of the index’s 26.3 percentage points in 2023 and 14.1 of 25.7 points in 2024, more than half in both years.
Yes. The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) holds the seven stocks. It returned 8.7% in 2026 to Sep 30 in Exent’s data.
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Educational content, not investment advice. Examples are illustrative; past performance does not guarantee future results.