How Can I Beat the S&P 500? What the Evidence Says
The honest answer to the most asked question in investing: how many people beat the index, why it is so hard, why investors trail even their own funds, and how daily market context fits in.
Truist Financial Corporation, financial services (market value $59.2 billion), an S&P 500 member: how it compared with the S&P 500, how it behaved in every crash since 2008, its risk‑adjusted returns and what analysts said. Returns to Oct 30, 2026; analyst data as of Nov 9, 2026.
Exent re-checks this page every day. Ratings appear 30 days after they are published; the top‑ranked analysts’ calls are not counted here, they are in Gems.
What do the best‑ranked analysts on TFC say now? See it in Exent Gems →
Over the 5 years to Oct 30, 2026, Truist Financial Corporation (TFC) returned −2.2% including dividends, versus +75.9% for the S&P 500 (SPY). It lagged the index by 78.1 percentage points, or −0.4% a year against +12.0%.
| Period | TFC | S&P 500 | TFC per year | S&P 500 per year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | +14.0% | +12.0% | +14.0% | +12.0% | Beat |
| 3 years | +99.4% | +87.4% | +25.9% | +23.3% | Beat |
| 5 years | −2.2% | +75.9% | −0.4% | +12.0% | Lagged |
| 10 years | +87.1% | +316.3% | +6.5% | +15.3% | Lagged |
Total return with dividends reinvested, from month-end prices to Oct 30, 2026. Beating the index on raw return is only half the story: the next section adjusts for the risk taken. See also how to beat the S&P 500.
TFC is in the S&P 500 (members as of Oct 20, 2026); the list shows every member’s return against the index.
In the 12 months to 30 days ago, 22 analysts published 186 ratings on TFC. Their latest calls were 41% Buy, 45% Hold and 14% Sell. 15 of them rank 4★ or higher in Exent’s analyst scoring, which is based on each analyst’s past price‑target hit rate and returns.
The consensus 12‑month price target was $53.14 (range $50.00–$56.00), +5.7% from the last price. Remember that the average analyst’s target is hit only about half the time: how accurate are price targets?
| Top‑ranked analyst covering | Firm | Stars | Price‑target hit rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| ??? | ??? | 5.0★ | 62.3% |
| Gerard Cassidy | RBC Capital | 5.0★ | 63.8% |
| Mike Mayo | Wells Fargo | 5.0★ | 66.6% |
| ??? | ??? | 4.9★ | 61.5% |
| ??? | ??? | 4.9★ | 50.8% |
Other analysts covering TFC: David George · Michael Rose · Stephen Biggar · Ryan Nash · Vivek Juneja
Ratings are shown with a 30‑day delay. Who the top‑ranked analysts on TFC are, their live calls and the median target of only the top‑rated analysts are in Exent Gems.
The average analyst’s target is reached about 53.1% of the time; Exent Gems is built on the top 50 of Exent’s ranking,where some reached 90% or more over the last two years. Unlock the top 50 analysts.
TFC beat the S&P 500 in 2 of the 9 full calendar years shown.
| Year | TFC | S&P 500 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (to Oct 30, 2026) | +2.2% | +11.7% | −9.5% |
| 2025 | +19.1% | +17.7% | +1.4% |
| 2024 | +23.7% | +24.9% | −1.2% |
| 2023 | −8.6% | +26.2% | −34.8% |
| 2022 | −23.5% | −18.2% | −5.3% |
| 2021 | +26.1% | +28.7% | −2.6% |
| 2020 | −11.1% | +18.3% | −29.4% |
| 2019 | +34.6% | +31.2% | +3.4% |
| 2018 | −10.2% | −4.6% | −5.6% |
| 2017 | +8.7% | +21.7% | −13.0% |
Over 5 years, TFC had a Sharpe ratio of −0.01 against 0.58 for the S&P 500, so it earned less return per unit of risk than the index. Its annualized volatility was 27.9% and its beta 0.90: it tended to move about 0.9× as much as the market.
| Metric | TFC | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Annual return | −0.4% | +12.0% |
| Volatility (annualized) | 27.9% | 15.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | −0.01 | 0.58 |
| Sortino ratio | −0.01 | 0.91 |
| Max drawdown (month-end) | −50.9% | −23.9% |
| Beta to the S&P 500 | 0.90 | 1.00 |
TFC’s deepest fall in the crises below was −68.3% in the global financial crisis (2007–09), against −56.5% for the S&P 500. The last column turns that into money: what a $100,000 position would have lost from peak to trough.
| Crisis | TFC | S&P 500 | Loss on $100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global financial crisis (2007–09) | −68.3% | −56.5% | −$68,320 |
| 2018 trade-war selloff | −20.1% | −20.2% | −$20,080 |
| COVID crash (Feb–Mar 2020) | −53.5% | −34.1% | −$53,550 |
| 2022 inflation bear market | −37.6% | −25.4% | −$37,590 |
| 2025 tariff selloff | −26.8% | −19.0% | −$26,800 |
| Window | TFC max drawdown |
|---|---|
| Last 1 year | −20.7% |
| Last 3 years | −26.9% |
| Last 5 years | −59.1% |
| Last 10 years | −61.1% |
Peak‑to‑trough declines from daily prices inside each crisis window. A crash replay does not predict the next crisis; it shows how much room a holding needs. Run the same replay on a whole portfolio with the crash test.
Correlation runs from −1 (moves opposite) to +1 (moves in lockstep). Over the last 60 months of monthly returns, TFC’s correlation with the S&P 500 was 0.50, with the Nasdaq‑100 0.31, with long Treasuries (TLT) 0.43 and with gold (GLD) 0.06.
Adding a 5% TFC position to an S&P 500 portfolio would have moved its 5‑year volatility from 15.5% to 15.4%.
| Least correlated large caps | Correlation | Most correlated large caps | Correlation |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLY | −0.14 | PNC | 0.88 |
| CRWD | −0.06 | USB | 0.87 |
| DELL | −0.03 | BAC | 0.78 |
| FTNT | −0.01 | BNY | 0.76 |
| MRK | 0.00 | MS | 0.75 |
Holdings that are highly correlated behave like one position in a selloff. See how to find hidden overlap.
| Date | Rating and target | Analyst |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 30 | Target raised Sell | Vivek Juneja |
| Oct 21 | Target cut Hold | Ben Gerlinger |
| Oct 19 | Target cut Hold | Christopher Mcgratty |
| Oct 8 | New coverage Hold | Scott Siefers |
| Oct 5 | Target cut Hold | Erika Najarian |
| Oct 2 | Target cut Sell | Vivek Juneja |
| Oct 1 | Target cut Buy | John Pancari |
Named analysts’ rating and price‑target changes on TFC in the 5 weeks to Oct 12, 2026, shown 30 days after publication (the free analysts’ calls 3 days after). The top‑ranked analysts’ calls are in Exent Gems. See all of the latest analyst upgrades and downgrades.
Of the 430 analyst price targets on TFC set from 2019 until a year ago, 72.3% were reached within 12 months (data to Oct 20, 2026), 3.7 points above the 68.6% hit rate of the median stock in Exent’s study of 794 stocks. Targets that were reached took a median of 78 days. The median target sat 13.2% above the share price on the day it was set.
Where analysts said TFC would be by now: a year ago, 4 analysts had a price target on TFC, and the median of their latest targets was $48.50. On Oct 20, 2026 TFC closed at $47.34, 2.4% below it.
| After | Calls | Move on the call | 3 months vs S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upgrades of TFC | 27 | −0.7% | −4.0% |
| Upgrades, all stocks | 11,514 | +2.5% | +3.4% |
| Downgrades of TFC | 32 | −0.9% | −5.8% |
| Downgrades, all stocks | 10,700 | −3.0% | −1.6% |
The move on the call runs from the close before the rating change to the close after it; the last column is the stock’s return minus the S&P 500’s over the next three months. Averages of rating changes on TFC through Sep 15, 2026; analysts are not named here. Do analyst upgrades move stocks?
TFC beat the consensus earnings‑per‑share estimate in 8 of its last 12 quarterly reports, through the one on Oct 16, 2026, and the revenue estimate in 4 of 12. From the close before each report to the close after it, the stock moved 3.4% on average, up or down, against 6.8% for the average report across the 1,002 US stocks Exent tracks. It rose after 7 of the 12 reports. In 3 of the 8 beats the stock still fell.
| Report | EPS vs estimate | Revenue vs estimate | Stock move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 16, 2026 | $1.16 vs $1.14 | −30.0% | −0.5% |
| Jul 17, 2026 | $1.23 vs $1.08 | +1.3% | −4.2% |
| Apr 17, 2026 | $1.09 vs $1.00 | +0.4% | +2.8% |
| Jan 21, 2026 | $1.00 vs $1.09 | −0.2% | +2.3% |
| Oct 17, 2025 | $1.04 vs $0.99 | −0.0% | +5.8% |
| Jul 18, 2025 | $0.91 vs $0.92 | −0.5% | −0.6% |
| Apr 17, 2025 | $0.87 vs $0.87 | −0.7% | −1.9% |
| Jan 17, 2025 | $0.91 vs $0.88 | +0.4% | +6.5% |
Reported earnings per share against the consensus estimate, revenue surprise in percent, and the stock’s price change over the two sessions around the report. How stocks move after earnings
In fiscal 2016, TFC’s largest segment was Community Banking, with 86.4% of $177.0 million revenue (+13.3% on the year before).
| Segment | Revenue | Share | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Banking | $153.0 million | 86.4% | +13.3% |
| Financial Services | $23.0 million | 13.0% | +4.5% |
| Residential Mortgage Banking | $1.0 million | 0.6% | −50.0% |
From TFC’s annual filings; segment growth compares fiscal 2016 with the year before. Regions are as each company reports them, so one company’s “Asia Pacific” is not another’s. China counts the regions a company reports as China, Greater China or Hong Kong; a separately reported Taiwan is not counted. Which S&P 500 companies depend most on China?
As of Oct 20, 2026, 26 members of Congress had disclosed 84 trades in TFC (42 buys and 40 sales) in STOCK Act disclosures filed with the House and Senate. The latest public trade is dated Apr 17, 2026.
| Trade date | Member | Type | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 17, 2026 | Lloyd Smucker | Sale | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Mar 30, 2026 | Ro Khanna | Buy | $15,001–$50,000 |
| Mar 27, 2026 | Alan Armstrong | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Dec 11, 2025 | Dan Newhouse | Sale | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Aug 27, 2025 | Ro Khanna | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Aug 12, 2025 | Ro Khanna | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Aug 8, 2025 | Ro Khanna | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Aug 4, 2025 | Ro Khanna | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Aug 1, 2025 | Ro Khanna | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
| Jun 18, 2025 | Ro Khanna | Buy | $1,001–$15,000 |
Amounts are the ranges members report, not exact values. The STOCK Act gives members up to 45 days to disclose a trade, so trades appear weeks after they are made. See every member’s disclosed trades
In the 12 months to Oct 20, 2026, TFC insiders made 1 open‑market purchase worth $1.0 million by 1 insider and 6 sales worth $2.7 million, according to SEC Form 4 filings.
After the 25 insider purchases of $10,000 or more since 2012, TFC lagged the S&P 500 by an average of 0.5 percentage points over the next 12 months; 38% of them were followed by a beat. Across all 17,865 insider purchases in Exent’s study, the average was +17.2% and the median +1.0% against the index.
| Date | Insider | Role | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 2026 | Lyons Michael P. | Director, officer: President & CEO | $1.0 million |
| Nov 25, 2024 | Rogers William H Jr | Director, officer: Chairman & CEO | $1.7 million |
| Jul 23, 2024 | Rogers William H Jr | Director, officer: Chairman & CEO | $2.5 million |
| Oct 20, 2023 | Rogers William H Jr | Director, officer: Chairman & CEO | $280,480 |
| May 3, 2023 | Patton Charles A | Director | $25,308 |
The table lists the latest open‑market purchases on record, leaving out the last 30 days. The chart counts Form 4 purchases and sales by calendar quarter. Purchases are open‑market buys; sales include planned sales under 10b5‑1 trading plans. Do insider buys beat the market?
As of the Sep 30, 2026 settlement date, 2.48% of TFC’s float was sold short: 30.3 million shares, or 3.3 days of average trading volume to cover. A year earlier (Oct 15, 2025) it was 2.50%. The median across the 997 US stocks Exent tracks was 4.77%, so TFC is less heavily shorted than most.
From FINRA short‑interest reports, filed twice a month; the bars show the short share of the float at each month‑end. Days to cover divides the shares short by the average daily volume. The most shorted stocks
At the end of Q2 2026 (Jun 30, 2026), 1,773 institutions reported holding TFC in 13F filings, up 57 from the quarter before and up from 1,624 a year earlier. Their reported holdings add up to 78.2% of TFC’s shares. In the quarter 810 institutions added to their positions and 674 cut them.
Investment managers with over $100 million in US equities file 13F reports within 45 days of each quarter end, so this is the latest complete quarter. Holdings can add up to more than 100% when shares are lent and counted twice. Which stocks institutions are buying and selling
TFC’s diluted share count fell 5.4% over the five fiscal years to fiscal 2025 and fell 3.5% in fiscal 2025 alone. Each share now owns a larger slice of the company. The median change across the 1,005 US stocks Exent tracks was −0.1%.
TFC spent $2.5 billion buying back shares, a buyback yield of 3.98% of its market value; stock pay equaled 0.0% of the buybacks.
Weighted‑average diluted shares from TFC’s annual income statements; stock‑based compensation and buybacks from its cash‑flow statement. Stock dilution and stock‑based compensation, explained
In Exent’s Oct 20, 2026 snapshot, TFC’s Piotroski F‑score was 7 out of 9; 40% of scored stocks reach 7 or more. The Altman Z‑score is not meaningful for financial services companies, so it is left out.
The Altman Z‑score combines five balance‑sheet and earnings ratios into one bankruptcy‑risk score: below 1.81 is the distress zone, 1.81–2.99 grey, above 2.99 safe. It is not meaningful for banks, insurers and REITs. The Piotroski F‑score counts nine yes/no tests of profitability, leverage and efficiency; 8–9 is strong, 0–2 weak. Both come from the latest annual statements. Which stocks have the highest bankruptcy risk?
On its latest earnings call (Oct 16, 2026), TFC’s executives and analysts mentioned AI 1 time, against 5 on the call before (Jul 17, 2026). Tariffs and recession did not come up.
| Mentions | Oct ’26 | Jul ’26 | Apr ’26 | Jan ’26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI | 1 | 5 | 10 | 3 |
| AI agents | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Data centers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tariffs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Recession | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Word counts in the full transcript of each call, prepared remarks and Q&A, newest first. “AI” also counts generative AI and large language models; “AI agents” counts agentic AI. Which companies talk most about AI?
As of Oct 20, 2026, 49 of the 304 ETFs Exent tracks held TFC. Its largest weight is in FDL (First Trust Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index Fund), at 1.49% of the fund.
| ETF | Fund | Weight of TFC |
|---|---|---|
| FDL | First Trust Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index Fund | 1.49% |
| DVY | iShares Select Dividend ETF | 1.28% |
| FDVV | Fidelity High Dividend ETF | 1.14% |
| CGDG | Capital Group Dividend Growers | 1.10% |
| VOE | Vanguard Mid-Cap Value Index Fund | 0.96% |
| XLF | State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF | 0.73% |
| VFH | Vanguard Financials Index Fund | 0.67% |
| VO | Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund ETF Shares | 0.56% |
Owning several of these funds stacks the same position. How much do VOO, QQQ and VTI overlap?
Exent matches every holding to the index with the most similar risk. For TFC that is SPY (the S&P 500). Comparing a holding with an index that carries very different risk makes good results look bad and risky ones look clever. Read why the S&P 500 is the wrong benchmark for most portfolios.
| Ticker | Name | 5‑year return | Volatility (5y) |
|---|---|---|---|
| BRK-B | Berkshire Hathaway Inc. | +89.0% | 17.2% |
| JPM | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | +124.6% | 24.4% |
| V | Visa Inc. | +102.8% | 22.7% |
| MA | Mastercard Incorporated | +95.9% | 23.9% |
| BAC | Bank of America Corporation | +18.3% | 26.6% |
| MS | Morgan Stanley | +110.1% | 28.6% |
| GS | The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | +144.3% | 28.6% |
| WFC | Wells Fargo & Company | +84.1% | 30.1% |
Returns are total returns from month‑end adjusted closing prices (dividends reinvested) through Oct 30, 2026. Crisis drawdowns and trailing maximum drawdowns use daily prices. Analyst coverage counts ratings published in the last 12 months, shown with a 30‑day delay. Full method: Exent methodology.
Company data as of Oct 20, 2026. The move around an earnings report runs from the close before it to the close after it; a price target counts as hit when the stock closed at or beyond it within 12 months (Exent analyst data). Revenue by region and segment, share counts and executive pay come from company filings; insider trades from SEC Form 4, short interest from FINRA, institutional ownership from 13F filings, Congress trades from STOCK Act disclosures filed with the House and Senate, federal contracts from USAspending.gov. Filings from the last 30 days are shown as counts only.
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Historical figures are calculated by Exent from market data and are for education only; they are not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
Wall Street’s average TFC price target is 5.7% above the latest share price. See what the best‑ranked analysts on TFC say now in Exent Gems.
No. TFC returned +87.1% (+6.5% a year) over the 10 years to Oct 30, 2026, versus +316.3% (+15.3% a year) for the S&P 500, including dividends.
Yes. As of Oct 20, 2026, TFC (Truist Financial Corporation) is one of the 503 stocks in the S&P 500.
TFC fell −68.3% from peak to trough during the global financial crisis (2007–09), versus −56.5% for the S&P 500.
TFC fell −53.5% from peak to trough during the covid crash (feb–mar 2020), versus −34.1% for the S&P 500.
TFC fell −37.6% from peak to trough during the 2022 inflation bear market, versus −25.4% for the S&P 500.
Over the 5 years to Oct 30, 2026, TFC’s Sharpe ratio was −0.01 and its Sortino ratio −0.01, versus 0.58 and 0.91 for the S&P 500.
TFC’s 5‑year annualized volatility was 32.0%, higher than the S&P 500’s 17.0%, with a beta of 0.90.
Among large US stocks, the lowest correlations with TFC over the last 60 months were LLY (−0.14), CRWD (−0.06), DELL (−0.03). Its correlation with long Treasuries (TLT) was 0.43 and with gold (GLD) 0.06.
TFC beat the consensus earnings-per-share estimate in 8 of its last 12 quarterly reports through Oct 16, 2026, and the revenue estimate in 4 of 12. The stock moved 3.4% on average, up or down, from the close before each report to the close after it.
Yes. As of Oct 20, 2026, 26 members of Congress had disclosed 84 trades in TFC (42 buys and 40 sales) in STOCK Act disclosures filed with the House and Senate.
As of the Sep 30, 2026 settlement date, 2.48% of TFC’s float was sold short (30.3 million shares, 3.3 days to cover), according to FINRA short-interest reports. A year earlier it was 2.50%.
No. TFC’s diluted share count fell 5.4% over the five fiscal years to fiscal 2025 and fell 3.5% in the latest year. Stock-based compensation was 0.0% of revenue, and buybacks totaled $2.5 billion.
Exent ranks Wall Street analysts by their track record. Gems shows who the top‑ranked analysts on TFC are, their latest calls and the stocks where several of them agree.
Educational content, not investment advice. Examples are illustrative; past performance does not guarantee future results.