What pandemic? Largest Central Mass. corporations saw stock rise in 2020

Photo | Grant Welker Ameresco headquarters in Framingham

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By Grant Welker

For a short stretch early on when the coronavirus pandemic began spreading in the United States, the American stock market took an eyebrow-raising nosedive.

In almost all the time since, the stock market spent 2020 recovering — and then some.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and eight of the 10 largest public companies in Central Massachusetts by market size are on track to end the year at a better stock price position than when the year began, despite a pandemic that's uprooted nearly every aspect of life and brought the economy and employment into turmoil.

From a low point in the market on March 23, when the pandemic was only just getting underway in the United States, the Dow rose through the rest of the year by 64%, as of the close of trading Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose in that time by 67%.

The biggest public companies in Central Massachusetts largely warned of potential trouble during the pandemic early on, but most ended up with better years than might have been expected at the time.

Ameresco, a Framingham firm that makes energy and efficiency systems, was the best performing of the area's largest companies, with its stock more than tripling from a low point in March and more than doubling for the year. The company continued signing new energy systems worldwide during the year, and in November, the company said its quarterly revenue rose by a third compared to a year prior to surpass $282 million.

BJ's Wholesale Club's stock peaked in August, roughly doubling from late February. The retail wholesaler was a beneficiary of the pandemic when it came to customers needing to stock up on groceries and other goods at home. In November, the company reported a nearly 16% year-to-year revenue increase, hitting more than $3.7 billion.

IPG Photonics' stock more than doubled from its late-winter low mark through the rest of the year, despite somewhat bleak financial results early on. The Oxford laser manufacturer was among the first Central Massachusetts public companies to warn early in the year of an expected financial toll from the pandemic, but it remained profitable through the first three quarters of the year.

Two of the area's largest companies didn't see their stock increase during the year: the Marlborough medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific and Worcester's Hanover Insurance Group.

Boston Scientific, like IPG, was early in warning of potential effects of the pandemic, particularly because medical procedures were largely postponed during the worst of the pandemic. That put a dent in demand for the company's medical products. The company cut costs early in the year and reported back-to-back quarterly losses in the middle of the year of $147 million and $48 million. In November, reported a nearly 2% drop in net sales, falling below $2.7 billion.

Hanover has not taken such a hit, despite its more lackluster stock performance. In fact, the insurer reported $119 million in quarterly profit in October and $115 million in July.