Quest Diagnostics, Altria, and 12 More Stocks That Are Coming Back to Life After a Rough Patch

Barron’s highlights a group of S&P 500 stocks that have recently recaptured their 200-day moving averages, signaling a potential turn after earlier weakness. The piece notes the S&P 500 is up roughly 9% year-to-date but that 235 S&P names remain down, and the author screened for non-packaged-food names whose 2026 sales estimates fell no more than 2%. That filter produced 14 names — including large-cap staples, health-care and industrials — which Barron’s argues may have more upside as they trade cheaper and show improving technicals. The article frames this as a diversified, tactical opportunity to buy recoveries rather than individual stock convictions, implying a mildly bullish impact for such overlooked cyclicals and defensive names if the trend continues.