The 10 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years (2024)

We analyzed the entire Russell 1000 to find the best-performing stocks across lookback periods of YTD, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y, 10Y, and 25Y. 999 Russell 1000 stocks have market capitalizations of $1 billion or more.

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  • Best-Performing Stocks YTD
  • Best-Performing Stocks in the Last Year
  • Best-Performing Stocks in the Last 3 Years
  • Best-Performing Stocks in the Last 5 Years
  • Best-Performing Stocks in the Last 10 Years
  • Best-Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years
  • What Was the Growth of $10,000 Over the Last 25 Years?
  • How Would Making Regular Contributions Affect Overall Returns?

YCharts CEO Sean Brown recently sat down with Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of Ark Invest, for a disruptive innovation webinar where they assessed key trends shaping the market–including some of the stocks on the list below. Watch the webinar below:

Best Performing Stocks YTD

These are the top-performing stocks year-to-date in 2024, as of April 2, 2024.

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The 10 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years (1)

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Best Performing Stocks in the Last Year

These are the top-performing stocks between April 2, 2023 and April 2, 2024.

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The 10 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years (2)

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Best Performing Stocks in the Last 3 Years

These are the top-performing stocks between April 2, 2021 and April 2, 2024.

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The 10 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years (3)

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Best Performing Stocks in the Last 5 Years

These are the top-performing stocks between April 2, 2019 and April 2, 2024.

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The 10 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years (4)

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Best Performing Stocks in the Last 10 Years

These are the top-performing stocks between April 2, 2014 and April 2, 2024.

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The 10 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years (5)

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Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years

These are the top-performing stocks between April 2, 1999 and April 2, 2024.

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The 10 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years (6)

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What Was the Growth of $10,000 Over the Last 25 Years?

If you invested $10,000 25 years ago into any of the ten best-performing stocks over the last 25 years, your balance today would be over one million dollars.

The best-performing stock in the last 25 years was Monster Beverage (MNST). A $10,000 investment into Monster Beverage 25 years ago would be worth $13.86 million today. Right behind it was Deckers Outdoor Corp (DECK); $10,000 invested into Deckers Outdoor Corp back in 1998 would’ve turned into $11.72 million.

The 10 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years (7)

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How Would Making Regular Contributions Affect Overall Returns?

Using Apple (AAPL)–the world’s second-most valuable company and fourth-best performer over the last 25 years–as an example, contributing $100 each month since April 1999 would’ve equaled a net total contribution of $30,000, with a total return of $3.9 million and some change.

If the monthly contribution was $250 each month ($75,000 total), the net balance after those 25 years would be near $10 million today.

The 10 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years (8)

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Though total returns achieved via monthly contributions over the 25 year time horizon wouldn’t have been as large as an upfront lump-sum investment, tools like Scenarios illustrate the importance of “staying the course” as an equity investment strategy to clients.

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The 10 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years (2024)

FAQs

The 10 Best Performing Stocks in the Last 25 Years? ›

The best-performing stock of the past three decades is not one of the tech titans you'd assume. It's actually an energy drink company: Monster Beverage . Monster's stock has climbed for decades, along with sales, which have grown consistently for 31 years straight.

What is the best performing stock of the last 30 years? ›

The best-performing stock of the past three decades is not one of the tech titans you'd assume. It's actually an energy drink company: Monster Beverage . Monster's stock has climbed for decades, along with sales, which have grown consistently for 31 years straight.

Which stock has the highest return in the last 20 years? ›

From PI Industries in the materials sector to Bajaj Finance in financial services, these stocks have delivered returns ranging from impressive to almost unbelievable. For instance, a mere Rs 10,000 investment in PI Industries in 2000 could have grown to almost Rs 2 crore by 2023.

What is the best performing stock of all time? ›

The Best Performing Stocks in History
  • Coca-Cola. (NASDAQ: KO) ...
  • Altria. (NASDAQ: MO) ...
  • Amazon.com. (NASDAQ: AMZN) ...
  • Celgene. (NASDAQ: CELG) ...
  • Apple. (NASDAQ: AAPL) ...
  • Alphabet. (NASDAQ:GOOG) ...
  • Gilead Sciences. (NASDAQ: GILD) ...
  • Microsoft. (NASDAQ: MSFT)

What are the best stocks over the last 10 years? ›

Best Performing Stocks Over the Last 10 Years
Ticker10-Year Performance (%)
1CELH36,823.2%
2NVDA24,142.3%
3EXPI5702.9%
4AMD4072.5%
6 more rows
4 days ago

What is the best performing stock of the last 50 years? ›

Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK. B, $195.20), of which he is chairman and CEO, tops the list of the best S&P 500 stocks of the past 50 years, and it is the only one that does not pay a dividend.

What is the best stock performance since 1980? ›

Ranking the Top S&P 500 Stocks
RankCompanyReturn
1Qualcomm2620%
2Tesla743%
3DSC Communications468%
4Coleco Industries435%
46 more rows
Jul 11, 2023

Which stock has the highest return ever? ›

Amazon (AMZN)

The Amazon share price had an initial spike after two years but tailed off in 2002. The dot.com boom followed, and Amazon became the world's largest retailer. That's an average stock market return of over 287,000%.

What is the No 1 stock in the world? ›

Microsoft is the largest company in the world, with a market cap of $3.09 trillion. It's followed by Apple ($2.95 trillion), Nvidia ($2.70 trillion), Alphabet ($2.15 trillion), and Saudi Arabian Oil ($1.87 trillion).

Which is the most successful stock? ›

The Most Successful Stocks Of All Time
Institutional InvestorNo. of Shares
Berkshire Hathaway915.56 million
State Street576.28 million
Geode Capital Management285.17 million
Fisher Asset Management52.35 million
1 more row
Jun 12, 2023

What stock has performed the best since 2000? ›

Here are the top 10 best performing S&P 500 stocks since the turn of 2000.
  • Apple Inc.
  • Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) ...
  • Amazon (AMZN) Stock. ...
  • Intuitive Surgical Inc. ...
  • Ansys Inc. ...
  • IDEXX Laboratories Inc. ...
  • HollyFrontier Corporation (HFC) ...
  • Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) Stock. ...
Sep 23, 2020

What are the best performing stocks over five years? ›

Best Performing Stocks in the Last 5 Years
TickerNameMarket Cap
NVDANVIDIA Corp$2.25T
BLDRBuilders FirstSource Inc$24.87B
ENPHEnphase Energy Inc$15.83B
SWAVShockwave Medical Inc$12.08B
6 more rows
Apr 4, 2024

What is the best performing asset of the last 10 years? ›

As we mentioned above, Bitcoin was the best-performing asset of the decade. The data examined the 17 top-performing assets between 2011 and 2021 and found that since 2011, Bitcoin's cumulative gains have exceeded 20,000,000%.

What is the stock market return for the last 30 years? ›

Stock Market Average Yearly Return for the Last 30 Years

The average yearly return of the S&P 500 is 10.47% over the last 30 years, as of the end of April 2024. This assumes dividends are reinvested. Adjusted for inflation, the 30-year average stock market return (including dividends) is 7.74%.

Which stock has the highest return of all time? ›

Amazon (AMZN)

The Amazon share price had an initial spike after two years but tailed off in 2002. The dot.com boom followed, and Amazon became the world's largest retailer. That's an average stock market return of over 287,000%.

Which investment produced the highest percentage returns over the last 30 years or so? ›

Final answer: Over the last 30 years, stocks have had the highest returns compared to other investment types, balancing higher risks with higher potential rewards.

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