April 2026 Portfolio Performance: The Market Gave Back What It Took
April was a reversal. My equities portfolio ended the month up +9.6%. The S&P 500 was up +10.6%. After two consecutive down months, it’s a relief — though the broader market recovery did much of the work this month.
The portfolio is now at +9.6% YTD — 4.2 percentage points ahead of the S&P 500.
The Numbers First
| Comparison | Q1 YTD (Mar 31) | Apr | YTD (Apr 30) |
|---|---|---|---|
| My Portfolio | +0.1% | +9.6% | +9.6% |
| S&P 500 | -4.6% | +10.6% | +5.4% |
| My China-related assets (adj.) | -15.9% | +2.8% | -13.5% |
| HSI (Hang Seng Index) | -3.3% | +4.0% | +0.6% |
S&P 500 from Seeking Alpha, captured May 2. HSI from Yahoo Finance.
The Q1 story was holding the line — up 0.1% while the S&P was down 4.6%, a 4.7 percentage point buffer built largely from staying out of the worst of the drawdown. April gave some of that back in relative terms — the market’s +10.6% edged out my +9.6% — but the cumulative lead going into May is still a meaningful 4.2 percentage points ahead of the index.
The China rows tell a specific story. Q1 was painful — my China positions were down 15.9% on a YTD price return basis against an HSI that was down 3.3%. April was a partial recovery: +2.8% on my China book against HSI’s +4.0%, still trailing but narrowing. The YTD damage sits at -13.5%, concentrated in two names — BABA and PONY. WuXi is the outlier pulling the other way. More detail in the China section below.
Where My USD Positions Are — And How They Played Out
| Sector | ETF | My Alloc | ETF Apr | My Apr | ETF YTD | My YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | XLE | 3.7% | -3.7% | -3.8% | +33.4% | +25.8% |
| Materials | XLB | 6.7% | +4.9% | +9.6% | +13.5% | +17.9% |
| Industrials | XLI | 28.3% | +11.5% | +1.4% | +12.6% | -20.4% |
| Healthcare | XLV | 25.2% | +1.5% | +13.5% | -5.7% | -3.0% |
| Comm. Services | XLC | 1.7% | +7.9% | +7.0% | -1.0% | -7.3% |
| Consumer Discr. (adj.) | XLY | 31.8% | +12.0% | +8.0% | -0.9% | -0.8% |
| Financial Services | XLF | 2.6% | +7.8% | +8.1% | -4.8% | +1.5% |
| Technology | XLK | — | +25.1% | +7.7% | +10.8% | +7.7% |
ETF source: Seeking Alpha, captured May 2.
What Worked
Healthcare massively outperformed its benchmark in April — XLV was up 1.5%, my Healthcare book returned +13.5%. OVID and WUXI did the heavy lifting — enough to more than offset DOCS sitting at -42.9% from cost on a YTD basis.
Materials tracked well above XLB: +17.9% YTD vs XLB’s +13.5%, driven by ALB’s strong price recovery from $141 at year-start to $196.70 at April 30, plus the realised gains from trimming across March and April.
The Technology row is new this month. AAOI (Applied Optoelectronics) was a full round-trip — bought and sold entirely within April, +7.7% return on capital deployed. No position held at month-end.
What Didn’t
The persistent problem is Industrials. XLI was up 11.5% in April — a big month for US defence, machinery and infrastructure names. My Industrials book is an autonomous driving thesis spanning both sides of the Pacific: PONY and WRD on the China side, GRAB as the Southeast Asia distribution layer, and UBER as the Western market equivalent. It’s a contrarian bet that sits in the same GICS category as Cosco Shipping and Lockheed Martin — the benchmark comparison isn’t really fair, but that’s where the classification lands. The YTD gap of -20.4% vs XLI’s +12.6% reflects that mismatch more than it reflects thesis failure.
The Positions That Drove the Month
Top gainers:
AMZN | Consumer Discretionary | +27.3% in April
Amazon’s April move was driven by two things. The broader market recovery during April lifted large-cap tech alongside everything else. Then on April 29, AMZN reported Q1 2026 earnings — EPS of $2.78 vs $1.63 consensus estimate, a 70.6% beat. AWS reaccelerated to 28% growth, its fastest pace in 15 quarters. Revenue hit $181.5B above estimates, and operating income climbed to $23.9B. The stock closed April at $265.
OVID | Healthcare | +24.8% in April
OVID continued building on the March catalyst momentum — Phase 1 OV329 safety data, the $60M Point72/Balyasny PIPE, and Wedbush’s upgrade to a $7 target. April added another 24.8%. At +67% from cost and now 8.5% of portfolio market value, this has become the standout position of 2026. The Q1 2026 update on May 12 added further confidence — OV329 Phase 2 advancement confirmed at higher doses, new pediatric indications added, and the first participant dosed in the OV4071 Phase 1 study. Balance sheet solid at $165.6M cash. Phase 2 is the next major catalyst.
Top losers:
NOG + SLB | Energy | -3.8% net in April
NOG reported Q1 2026 results on April 28 — adjusted EPS of $0.74 beating the $0.71 estimate, record production of 148,303 BOE per day, and 2026 guidance unchanged. The headline GAAP loss of $522.8M was entirely non-cash. Operationally, nothing to worry about.
The April decline was more about sentiment than fundamentals — ceasefire signals from the Middle East led investors to unwind the war risk premium and rotate back into growth names. The operational story remains intact. SLB, fully exited in April at $53, returned +12.8% for the month — partially offsetting NOG’s -7.1% decline and netting the Energy sector to approximately -3.8% for April.
XPEV | Consumer Discretionary | -4.7% in April
XPEV pulled back during the month on a BNP downgrade and continued year-on-year delivery declines — the fourth consecutive month — alongside broad Chinese EV sector pressure. That said, the operational picture is improving: April deliveries of 31,011 vehicles with Mona M03 contributing 44%, three new SUV model filings in May, and the premium GX SUV launching May 20. I added to the position at lower prices. Q1 2026 earnings are scheduled for May 27 — the next hard data point on whether the delivery recovery is translating into better unit economics.
China Positions: Benchmarked Against HSCI
I’m continuing the benchmark structure from the China Q1 post here.
| Sector | Index | Index Apr | My Apr | Index YTD | My YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Discr. (adj.) | HSCID | +20.6% | +3.3% | +5.5% | –11.8% |
| Industrials | HSCII | –3.3% | +0.7% | +4.0% | –21.3% |
| Healthcare | HSCIH | +6.2% | +16.1% | +6.7% | +14.9% |
HSCI from hsi.com.hk.
Healthcare
Healthcare was the standout. WuXi had a strong April — +16.1% against HSCIH’s +6.2% — and is now +14.9% YTD against the benchmark’s +6.7%. The BIOSECURE noise has faded, FY2025 revenue was up 21.4%, and 2026 guidance is +18–22% growth. The fundamentals are quietly doing the work.
Consumer Discretionary
Consumer Discretionary returned +3.3% in April against HSCID’s +20.6% — the gap is explained by what drove the index. Worth noting that my US Consumer Discretionary is roughly tracking its benchmark at -0.8% YTD vs XLY’s -0.9%, largely carried by AMZN. The China side tells a completely different story despite sharing the same sector label. HSCID’s April surge was carried by Meituan, JD.com, and PDD on domestic consumption optimism. BABA and XPEV didn’t keep pace — BABA recovered +5.9% but XPEV’s -4.7% dragged the blended return down, leaving Consumer Discr at -11.8% YTD while HSCID has turned positive at +5.5%.
Industrials
Industrials returned +0.7% in April — actually outperforming HSCII which fell -3.3% — as PONY recovered +4.6% and WRD gave back -4.6%, netting slightly positive. The YTD gap of -21.3% against HSCII’s +4.0% reflects the same benchmark mismatch as the US table — HSCII is old-economy Chinese industrials while PONY and WRD are pre-profit autonomous driving names. Not a fair peer group, but that’s the category they sit in. WRD reported Q1 2026 results on May 13 — revenue up 58% YoY, a record quarter, with gross margin at 35% and WRD 3.0 becoming China’s first four-time urban intelligent driving champion. The stock fell over 10% in premarket on the pace of loss narrowing, but recovered through the session — telling me the market still believes the underlying story.
What I’m Watching Going Into May
Stagflation looks stickier than the market is pricing. CPI at 3.8% and April PPI at +1.4% month-on-month — the largest monthly advance since March 2022, with year-on-year PPI now at +6.0% — points to inflation persisting well into the second half. Kevin Warsh inherits the Fed chair on May 15 with rate cuts pushed to December at the earliest, and some strategists flagging 2027. That tension between a president wanting cuts and a Fed chair inheriting an inflation problem doesn’t resolve quickly. Something has to give.
On the FOMO in chips and AI infrastructure — Memory is up 83.8% and Semis up 37.5% since the Iran conflict started. My view isn’t to fear it and sit out, but to not chase it. If you don’t already own it, the better move is to find the overlooked sectors or actively manage what you already hold. S&P at 7,400 is all-time highs — if it runs to 7,700 to 8,000, I’d be more cautious, not more excited.
The autonomous driving thesis is a contrarian one — I know it going in. The commercialisation story takes 1-3 years and the market won’t price it in until the revenue shows up. Three things tested that patience in quick succession: the Baidu Apollo Go mass stall in Wuhan, China’s suspension of new Level 4 AV permits, and Waymo’s recall after a vehicle was swept into a creek. None of these are fatal. They are a reminder that the road is longer and bumpier than IPO prices implied. My patience now has an earnings print attached to it.
Healthcare remains the overlooked sector — XLV is down 5.7% YTD while the market has been fixated on AI and energy. A new FDA chief coming in could mean a more pragmatic regulatory approach. OVID and WUXI are doing the work. NVO is quietly recovering. I’m looking to expand here.
Stocks I need to pay attention to:
DOCS — Q4 FY2026 results came in on May 13: revenue $145M beating guidance, AI search deals signed with top 20 pharma, and the Aledade partnership giving Doximity a real workflow presence inside EHR systems for independent primary care. The market sold it down ~19% after hours — FY2027 guidance of 4% Q1 growth was read as too thin, and AI revenue won’t be meaningful until FY2027 Q3-Q4 given pharma regulatory timelines. I’m still holding. The company is doing the right things and I think it’s found its floor. But 2-3 years for full execution in a world where AI is moving this fast is a long time to sit still. My plan is to trim slowly and rotate into other Healthcare names. OVID was the result of a similar rotation out of TScan — that one worked out. If DOCS delivers on the FY2027 Q3-Q4 AI revenue the signed deals imply, I’d consider rotating back.
BABA — Q4 FY2026 results confirmed the AI thesis is tracking: Cloud grew 40%, AI revenue now 30% of external cloud. Free cash flow swung negative but BABA’s capex as a percentage of revenue is actually smaller than AMZN, GOOGL, and Meta — all of whom the market rewards for the same investment cycle. The real reason I’m trimming is the China discount, not the spend. On the H200 news — the US approved roughly 10 Chinese companies including Alibaba to purchase Nvidia H200 chips, but no shipments have been made yet as Beijing pushes domestic alternatives. BABA is also building its own T-Head chip stack as a parallel strategy, which management flagged as a structural advantage in a compute-scarce environment. I’m trimming, not dumping.
PONY — May 27 earnings will be the next data point. That’s the circuit breaker I’ve been waiting for on Industrials sizing.
In the meantime, I’m accumulating cash. The SE exit and the AAOI round-trip are both part of that — taking profits rather than holding through what could be a volatile few months. If the correction comes, I want dry powder ready. A proper pullback in the semiconductor and AI names could be the entry point I’ve been waiting for to get into Technology properly — but only if the thesis holds up under scrutiny at lower prices.
Conclusion
April was a good month. The portfolio returned +9.6%, building on the Q1 buffer and keeping the YTD lead intact at 4.2 percentage points ahead of the S&P 500. Q1 was about holding the line when markets fell. April was about participating in the recovery without giving back what was earned.
Looking back at the 2026 strategy I set out in January — rotating toward Industrials, Healthcare, and Consumer Discretionary, with catalyst-driven positioning rather than arbitrary percentage targets — it still holds up. All three sectors remain in the portfolio. What’s shifting is the weighting. Healthcare is delivering and I’m looking to expand it. Industrials is taking longer than expected on the AV commercialisation side, but the thesis hasn’t broken and the catalyst calendar for the second half of 2026 is still loaded. Consumer Discretionary is where I’m making adjustments — trimming BABA gradually on the China discount, and watching XPEV’s May 27 earnings before deciding on sizing. The sector as a whole is tracking its benchmark, but the China names within it are a different story.
Disclaimer: This is a review of my personal portfolio and performance for learning purposes. It is not investment advice. Always consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.