The 3 Worst Performing Stocks of 2025

The stock market has done great this year.

But the market is made up of thousands of companies… and they didn’t all do so hot.

Today we reveal the three worst performers of 2025.

These are painful reminders even great companies can have terrible years.

They also remind us why investing in hundreds of companies through index funds is recommended for the majority of us... we aren't that great at picking stocks!

#1 Lululemon Athletica
YTD Performance: -52%

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Lulu had a bad year.
​They’ve honestly had a bad 5 years.

They've been suffering from success. They dominated athleisure. From Summer of 2017 to September of 2021, their stock went from $48 to $432 - not too shabby.

But that domination led to sky high expectations they just couldn’t maintain.

They aren’t the only game in town anymore and people in this space like novelty.

Chances are you’ve got on Alo or Vuori right now.

4 years ago it would’ve been Fabletics or Outdoor Voices.
​4 years from now there will be two new brands who convince us they’re better.

Lulu also ran into a slightly lower-spending consumer in 2025. Slightly less spending won’t bankrupt Lulu, but when they were expecting giant spending, it’s going to hurt their stock price.

Their stock is now $182 - the same price it was in Summer 2019… WOOF

#2: Fiserv
YTD Performance: -72%

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FISERV (as the name suggests) is a financial services company. They started the year valued at $200 per share.

From January to October they slowly tumbled down from $200 to $100 - quite the miserable year.

Then… in one single day the stock dropped an additional 44%. From $110 to $64 - in one day

Interestingly, FISERV isn’t about to go bankrupt. It’s not a failing company.

The drop was primarily caused by an expectations reset after some growth areas didn't pan out.

Expectations are powerful for stock prices and changing them spooks investors.

#3 Gartner
YTD Performance: -53%

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As someone in tech, this one’s a toughie.

Gartner is a leading technology research firm.

People have been down on the stock, in short, because "AI is great at research so why pay Gartner to do it for you?"

What’s fascinating is they’ve had great quarters in 2025, but the perception of disruption by AI is keeping their stock very very low.

An Honorable Mention, Cisco

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Cisco has actually had a great year, but it’s a fascinating example of how long it can take a company to recover after a big drop in stock price.

Cisco was the NVIDIA of 1999.

It was the backbone of the internet.
Future forward.
Bulletproof.

Then, in 2000 it crashed with the rest of the DotCom bubble and had a slow recovery.

How slow was it’s recovery?

Well, this Wednesday, it FINALLY reached its previous high of $80.06 last held in March of 2000!

Only 25.5 years later baby!

There’s a good chance really smart people thought each of these companies would have a rockin’ year. Remember that as you look at your “surefire” 2026 investments.

Want to understand investment basics and avoid having to pick stocks? Reach out and let’s talk!