Investors who bought stocks during the COVID-19 market crash in 2020 have generally made some big gains over the past two years. But there’s no question that some big-name stocks have outperformed others since the pandemic bottomed out.
The Bumpy Road of Occidental: One company that has been a great investment over the past two years is an oil and gas company Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY.
Like many other companies, the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated Occidental’s business in 2020. In fact, WTI crude oil futures briefly fell below zero during the worst sell-off of the pandemic as demand collapsed and oil buyers ran out of storage space.
At the beginning of 2020, Occidental shares were trading at $41.63. In early March, the stock had fallen to $33.55 as news of the spread of the coronavirus in China raised concerns about a US pandemic.
When the S&P 500 hit its pandemic bottom in March 2020, shares of Occidental fell to $9. Unfortunately, while the S&P 500 rebounded from there, the worst was yet to come.
On April 20, 2020, WTI crude oil futures contracts fell below zero per barrel for the first time in history and settled at an unprecedented price of negative $37.63. The May WTO treaties expired the next day and prices quickly bounced back into positive territory.
In early June 2020, Occidental shares were back above $20 before the recovery rally lost momentum. On October 29, 2020, Occidental hit its 2020 pandemic low at $8.52.
Occidental rebounded from those October 2020 lows, and the stock quickly became red hot.
Related link: If you had invested $1,000 in Exxon Mobil stock at its COVID-19 pandemic low, here is what you would have now:
West in 2022, beyond: WTI crude oil prices surged to new post-pandemic highs of over $65/barrel in March 2021, and Occidental shares surpassed $25 in February 2021. Inflation, global energy shortages and the war in Ukraine caused crude oil prices to rise to as much as USD 130 in March 2022.
Inflation has weighed on many stocks, but it’s…
