Inflation Surge Begins to Slam Big Stocks
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla., May 13, 2026 — Weiss Ratings, which accepts no compensation from rated companies, has published today a special list of 18 S&P 500 stocks deemed most vulnerable to inflation. All merit a Weiss Investment Rating of “Sell” (D+ or lower), and some have already suffered severe price declines during the most recent surge in commodity prices.
Prominent on the list are Nike (rated D), The Estée Lauder Companies (D), Fiserv (D), The Kraft Heinz Company (D), Fidelity National Information Services (D+), General Mills (D), International Paper Co. (D), and Baxter International (E+).
These stocks not only merit low grades because of the many balance sheet and earnings factors regularly reviewed to assign a Weiss rating, but are also active in industries with a history of poor performance during bouts of inflation.
Weiss Ratings founder, Dr. Martin D. Weiss, commented: “For investors and consumers, what compounds the problem is that official measures like the CPI often mask the severity of inflation. In contrast, commodity price indexes of non-government research organizations are more sensitive to market changes and rarely subject to hotly debated statistical adjustments the government has made to the CPI over the years.”
Since July of 2025, the inflation rate, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, has risen to high double digits compared to a year earlier. In contrast, the more widely watched CPI has remained mostly flat with a small uptick to 3.3% in March.
A similar pattern was also evident during the oil-price shock and Middle East war of the 1970s, when year-over-year commodity price inflation reached 132%, while CPI inflation remained in single digits, not peaking until months later, at 12.3%.
Commodity Prices Led CPI Inflation Sharply Higher with Oil Shock of 1970s.
In the most recent period,” said Weiss, “the surge in commodity price inflation began six months before the Iran war and shows every sign of continuing after the war. We believe this could be one of five growing risks for investors who fail to identify the most vulnerable stocks."
The list of 18 S&P 500 stocks deemed among the most vulnerable to inflation can be viewed here, and to better understand all five risks facing investors and consumers today, readers are advised to review Dr. Weiss’s just-released exposé, 5 Serious Distortions that Deceive Investors.
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About Weiss Stock Ratings: Weiss Ratings assigns ratings from A+ to F to over 11,000 stocks, with A and B grades equivalent “Buy,” C grades equivalent to “Hold,” and D+ or lower grades equivalent to “Sell.” Among 168 stocks first upgraded by Weiss to a “Buy” in 2003 and 2004 but never downgraded to a “Sell,” all gained at least 1,000% and as much as 173,362% through Dec. 31, 2025.
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