**By Andrew Bary**
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**Updated May 15, 2026 4:58 am EDT / Original May 15, 2026 1:00 am EDT**
Key points
\- The S&P 500’s 9% rise this year is largely due to a 25% tech sector increase, while other key sectors underperform.
\- Many blue-chip stocks outside tech are hitting 52-week lows, with 10 identified, often due to sector-specific issues or AI concerns.
\- Stocks like Home Depot, Zoetis, and Accenture are down significantly this year, now trading at lower valuations and offering high dividend
https://www.barrons.com/articles/mcdonalds-home-depot-bargain-quality-stocks-6165b7f8
Aside from technology, a roaring bull market this isn’t.
Several key sectors—financials, healthcare, and consumer staples—are trading below their early-year highs. The S&P 500 index’s 10% rise so far this year has been driven by a 25% rise in the tech sector.
With an effective weighting of about 50% in the index, tech is so dominant now that it can power the market even if other sectors are in the red, as healthcare and financials are this year.
“If you’re not a chip company or building data centers, you’re out of luck,” says Michael Jamison, managing partner at Griffin Asset Management.
One sign of the malaise outside tech is that many blue-chip stocks have been hitting 52-week lows lately. Barron’s identified 10 quality stocks that hit the new-lows list in the past week. Many carry 3%-plus dividend yields.
Let’s start with the king of home improvement.
“I know Home Depot is out of favor, but its scale is enormous,” says Jamison, a fan of the stock and its 3% dividend yield. There are few more dominant retailers.
Investors are worried about depressed home-building and remodeling activity, and the recent uptick in interest rates doesn’t help. The stock is down almost 20% in the past year, to $304, and trades for about 20 times estimated 2026 earnings. When housing perks up, Home Depot should rally.
As the leader in animal health, Zoetis once was viewed as a can’t-miss play on Americans’ infatuation with pets. But pet-oriented medical spending unexpectedly slowed, and Zoetis has been hammered. The stock, at around $75, is off 40% this year and 70% from its 2021 peak.
Morgan Stanley analyst Erin Wright is bullish on the stock, citing the “unmatched breadth” of the Zoetis portfolio.
The stock now trades for about 11 times projected 2026 earnings and yields almost 3%. Zoetis isn’t broken. It’s still capable of high-single-digit annual earnings growth, and there have been recent purchases by company insiders.
Accenture, the consulting and outsourcing leader, keeps telling investors that AI won’t disrupt its business, but Wall Street fears the worst, and the stock keeps dropping.
Accenture shares, at $164, are down nearly 40% this year and trade for under 12 times projected earnings for its fiscal year ending in August. It has a 4% dividend yield and has been making ample stock buybacks, which could eventually lift the share price.
A consulting initiative from OpenAI has rattled the stock lately. UBS analyst Kevin McVeigh remains bullish, noting that Accenture has the scale, “deployment capability,” and skills that upstart AI players lack. He has a Buy rating and an admittedly ambitious $320 price target.
Marsh, a leader in the property-and-casualty insurance brokerage industry, long commanded a premium valuation of over 20 times earnings as a “capital light” way to play insurance industry growth without taking underwriting risk.
Shares of Marsh and other insurance brokers have been hit for two reasons: a potential AI threat to brokerage and consulting services, and a more competitive P&C pricing environment, which is dampening revenue growth. The AI threat to the brokerage business seems overblown given the complexity of corporate insurance needs.
Marsh stock, at $160, is down 28% over the past year and now trades for 15 times projected 2026 earnings. UBS analyst Brian Meredith has a Buy rating and $235 price target, citing a resilient business model and ample capital returns.
In a K-shaped economy driven by affluent Americans, McDonald’s reliance on lower-income consumers hurting from high gasoline prices worries Wall Street.
The stock, at around $275, trades for around 20 times earnings and yields almost 3%.
“We believe risk/reward for MCD shares is attractive despite near-term pressures, given catalysts with potential to drive market share gains & strengthen U.S. sales growth, and defensive characteristics,” wrote UBS analyst Dennis Geiger in a recent client note.
Wall Street hates McCormick’s deal in March to buy the larger Unilever food business. Investors fear McCormick is overpaying, taking on too much debt, and diluting one of the better food franchises, which had been focused on spices and flavorings.
The damage to McCormick stock could be over with the shares off 31% this year to around $46. TD Cowen analyst Robert Moskow is bullish, arguing that Unilever has good brands like Hellmann’s and gives McCormick greater exposure to higher-growth emerging markets.
The stock now trades for about 15 times projected 2026 earnings—half the multiple of three years ago—and yields 4%.
Republic Services is No. 2 nationally behind Waste Management in garbage collection and recycling. It has a steady growth business with a competitive moat in scarce landfills, annuity-like revenue, and 90%-plus annual customer retention.
This year’s earning growth is expected to be subpar at around 4% but accelerating to nearly 10% in 2027. The stock, at about $208, has an above-market multiple at 28 times projected 2026 earnings. Garbage is a good business, and Republic stock is rarely cheap.
Abbott Laboratories used to be one of the most reliable big companies in the healthcare sector.
That changed this year. First-quarter results showed a decline in its infant formula business, and there was a cut to 2026 earnings guidance related to Abbott’s pricey purchase of Exact Sciences, a maker of a colon cancer diagnostic test.
The stock now looks appealing after falling 32% this year to $85. It trades for 15 times projected 2026 earnings—down from a price/earnings ratio of 25 a year ago—and yields 3%. UBS’s Priya Sachdeva is bullish, citing “the resiliency of ABT’s diversified portfolio.” The company could get back to 10%-plus earnings growth in 2027.
Medtronic, a leader in medical devices, has seen its stock fall 20% this year to around $77 and is no higher than it was a decade ago.
The potential negative impact of GLP-1 drugs on knee and hip replacements, on top of tariffs, has depressed the medical-devices sector this year. Medtronic’s business, however, is focused on GLP-1 resistant cardiology and neurology.
The stock looks inexpensive, trading for 13 times earnings in its fiscal year ending in April 2027 and yielding 3.7%. Profit growth is expected to accelerate to about 10% next fiscal year from 2% in the current one.
Danaher offers medical diagnostic products and equipment used in the biotech industry.
Those are strong end markets, but the stock is down 28% this year, to $164, as investors reacted to weak core sales growth of just 1% in the first quarter. The company has a high-single-digit long-term annual revenue target. The stock now trades for 20 times 2026 earnings. Danaher’s earnings per share are expected to rise about 8% this year and in 2027, with the company targeting double-digit long-term growth.
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| Company / Ticker | Recent Price | 52-Week Change | Market Value (billion) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Abbott Laboratories / ABT | $84.90 | -34.0% | $148 |
| Accenture / ACN | 163.99 | -48.8 | 101 |
| Danaher / DHR | 164.54 | -12.4 | 116 |
| Home Depot / HD | 304.35 | -18.4 | 303 |
| Marsh / MRSH | 160.02 | -28.1 | 77 |
| McCormick / MKC | 46.51 | -36.7 | 13 |
| McDonald's / MCD | 274.97 | -10.6 | 195 |
| Medtronic / MDT | 76.97 | -8.6 | 99 |
| Republic Services / RSG | 208.68 | -12.3 | 64 |
| Zoetis / ZTS | 75.48 | -51.3 | 32 |