Despite the recent market correction, 2026 has not been very good for stocks overall so far. As per the latest look, SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (detective +1.22%) and it is inherent S&P 500 index (^GSPC +1.20%) Are up just over 4% for the year. Both have also been unstable and still appear to be unsafe.
However, not every name had to struggle this year. Thanks to a strong start right out of the gate, dividend stocks have had a nice rise. In fact, Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD +0.78%) – designed to reflect Dow Jones US Dividend 100™ Index – Has performed particularly well. It has increased by 13% since the end of 2025 and is holding its own.
data by YCharts.
This performance disparity actually matters a lot.
role reversal
Contrary to popular belief, most of the time, all stocks in the market (regardless of sector, style or size) rise and fall as a whole. Some rise or fall more than others. But they all move in the same general direction. However, sometimes things get weird.
This has largely been the case since late 2022, when OpenAI’s ChatGPT first launched, shortly after AI-mania took full swing. value stock and dividend stock There has been some bullish progress since that point, but since then growth stocks have increased by more than twice as much as value stocks, and real dividend stocks by more than five times.
However, as the old saying goes, nothing lasts forever. things change.
Image Source: Getty Images.
The change is obvious in this example. That means investors are reconsidering its price artificial intelligence Relative to its cost. Many people were surprised by how much companies liked them Oracle, MicrosoftAnd alphabet They were intending to spend on AI infrastructure again this year, but so far their AI investment is not enough to show. This dynamic, coupled with prolonged inflation that could lead to an outright recession, has suddenly forced investors to think defensively again. Cash dividends – no matter how modest they are – are better than dividend stocks only to see your growth stock holdings lose money.
looking ahead
Of course, the puzzle is whether we can avoid entering such economic adversity by rekindling interest in growth stocks at the expense of value names in general, and dividend payers in particular (most decent dividend stocks are also value stocks).
Even if we are able to bypass one recessionHowever, somehow it feels like the best and brightest days of the artificial intelligence revolution are in the rearview mirror. Going forward, even the most aggressive investors may become more savvy and willing to buy and hold dividend payers that they may not have been interested in holding between 2023 and 2025.
In other words, there’s a strong case for buying dividend stocks that have outperformed this year. The Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF would be an easy way to gain immediate and well-diversified exposure to this group.