The Top 10 Grocery & CPG Stocks: Costco Shines as Our Stocks Split During a Volatile Week

The FTN/FW Top 10 Grocery & CPG Stocks are curated using a combination of market relevance, segment representation, trading activity, and weekly performance trends. We track them with Google Gemini. We’re less interested in leaderboard bragging rights than in where capital is flowing – and what that says about how investors are reading the grocery business in real time.

Wall Street gave investors plenty of reasons to worry during the five trading days ending Sept. 25. The S&P 500 nevertheless finished the week up 1.21%, snapping a multiweek losing streak. That gain doesn’t go far enough in explaining just how rough the ride was — or how differently grocery stocks fared.

Early on, a rapid rise in the 10-year Treasury yield, which briefly approached its highest level since 2007, weighed on stock valuations. High crude oil prices added to the pressure. So did concern about slowing structural growth, even as the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow estimate for third-quarter annualized growth stood at 5.0% after being trimmed.

By Friday, the mood had turned. Diplomatic optimism around a potential seven-day peace plan in Iran helped push London Brent crude futures back below $98 a barrel. Treasury yields eased, and stocks staged a sharp relief rally. It was a striking reversal, but par for the course in what’s been an “interesting” bond market lately.  

The split among grocery and consumer staples stocks was just as striking. Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:COST) was the week’s clear winner, rising 3.07% after its Sept. 24 fiscal fourth-quarter report beat analyst expectations. Revenue climbed 11.1% to $95.72 billion, earnings reached $6.75 per share, and U.S. comparable sales grew 10.7%. Its digital growth gave investors another reason to favor the warehouse club as a consumer safe haven. Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG) gained 1.99%, while BJ’s Wholesale Club Hldgs Inc. (NYSE:BJ) rose 1.91%.

Then there was Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM). Its shares plunged 11.72% during the steepest decline in the group, and hit a new 52-week low. Earlier support from prominent value investors, including the legendary Michael Burry, offered little protection as institutional investors trimmed positions and insider selling persisted. Even a JPMorgan upgrade failed to turn sentiment around.

That company-specific pressure came as fresh-format grocers faced structural cost inflation and cautious consumers. Albertsons Companies Inc. (NYSE:ACI) fell 5.51% for the week. The broader market may have recovered by Friday, but grocery investors plainly were not buying every retailer’s story.

Top 10 Grocery & CPG Stocks Performance

Data reflects the five trading sessions from the market close on September 18, 2026, to September 25, 2026.