The takeaway
Carriage Services Inc shows a moderate seasonal pattern over 10 years of data — strongest in December (+5.3%) and softest in August (+0.5%).
Right now
In July, the stock has risen 60% of years, averaging +3.0%, about +0.8 pts better than the S&P 500.
The full picture
Carriage Services Inc's most dependable month has been December, higher in 7 of 10 years; August has been its least reliable, up just 20% of the time.
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win rate % | ||||||||||||
| Median return % | ||||||||||||
| 2025 | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | ||||||||||||
| 2022 | ||||||||||||
| 2021 | ||||||||||||
| 2020 | ||||||||||||
| 2019 | ||||||||||||
| 2018 | ||||||||||||
| 2017 | ||||||||||||
| 2016 |
Month by month
The stock's clearest edge over the S&P 500 lands in December (+4.3 pts); it has trailed the market most in April (−4.0 pts).
“vs S&P” is Carriage Services Inc’s average for a month minus the S&P 500’s average for that same month — isolating Carriage Services Inc’s own seasonal edge from broad market drift.
Reality check
Over the last 5 years, December has closed higher 60% of the time versus 70% across the last 10 years — the pattern is strengthening.
Figures are the typical (median) December return and how often it rose — the last 5 years versus the last 10(the heatmap’s default window). This verdict stays anchored to that 10-year window even if you zoom the chart, so it never disagrees with the badges above.
In plain English
The seasonal story is really one month's story — December. It has closed higher in 7 of 10 Decembers, a concentration the rest of the calendar can't touch.
The strength looks broad-based rather than freakish: its average (+5.3%) and median (+5.0%) sit close together, so no single blow-out year is flattering the figure. That reliability comes with real swings, mind — even December ranges by 8.8% from year to year, so any single year can land far from the average. Better still, that strength is the stock's own and not just a buoyant market — December has outpaced the S&P 500 by +4.3 points on average. Few peers keep such company in December — the typical stock clears it just 58% of the time.
December anchors a run, too: the October-through-December window has been the stock's reliable season. On the other side of the ledger, August is the year's low point, though even there the stock has stayed positive on average (+0.5%), a sign every month leans up, and the edge isn't year-round — the stock has trailed the S&P 500 in April, March, and September. Its roughest month on record was a −27.3% October in 2022 — a reminder of how hard even a seasonal name can fall.
If anything it has sharpened recently — the last five Decembers run ahead of the earlier years.
For a stock this dependable in December, the sharper question is the rest of the year — outside its strong stretch, the calendar gives far less to lean on.
Short answers on the stock's best month (December), its worst (August), and whether it really trades seasonally.
Yes, to a moderate degree. Since 2016 its best month (December, +5.3%) has run well ahead of its worst (August, +0.5%) — the heatmap above shows how steady that gap has been year to year.
December has been the strongest, averaging +5.3% and closing higher in 7 of 10 years since 2016.
It's the weakest month, but it has still averaged a small gain (+0.5%) — quiet rather than genuinely bad.
Explore
These names have the strongest July track records on record — a starting point for comparison.
Before you trade