Death Care continues to be a good investment (so far) in 2026

May 4, 2026/Finance/

The stock markets closed on Thursday, April 30, and it continued with an upward climb for Death Care stocks. April 30 marked the calendar as one-third of the way through 2026 and with it showed an additional increase in the Death Care Index (DCI) over the March 31 number.

The Funeral Director Daily Death Care Index showed another 5-point gain for the month of April bringing it to a close of 168.47. That puts the index, as of April 30, at a gain of 8.40% for 2026 to date. As of a little over a month ago, on March 31, at the end of the first quarter of the year, the DCI was up 5.20% year-to-date at the time.

Death Care stocks and major indexes as of April 30, 2026

It’s interesting to note that all DCI stocks – Service Corporation International, Carriage Services, Security National Financial Corporation, and Matthews International – are all in positive territory for 2026 so far.

It’s also interesting to note that, while the major indexes moved into positive territory during the month of April, the Death Care Index Year-to-Date percentage gain has surpassed the percentage gain of all of the major indexes so far in 2026.

Timing can be everything — Service Corporation International (SCI) reported the results of their 1st Quarter 2026 on Wednesday, April 29, after the close of the market. It turns out that some investors probably did not like what they heard from SCI as on the last day of the month, April 30, SCI stock closed down by $5.36 from the previous pre-report day. That $5.36 represented a little over 6% of the value of a share of SCI stock.

Had the month ended one day earlier with SCI stock at $86.39, the Death Care Index would have closed out April up almost 12% on the year. It’s a good reminder that investments should be measured in the “Long-term” not the daily, quarterly, or sometimes even yearly perspective.

Here’s a chart of the Dow Jones Index from 1896 to 2024 that gives one that “Long-term” investment perspective.