The 10 Best Performing Stocks of the Last 20+ Years
Some stocks have turned modest investments into life-changing sums. We ranked every company in our database by total return from the earliest start year available to see which ones delivered the biggest gains.
All figures below are based on a hypothetical $1,000 investment using split-adjusted closing prices. Dividends, taxes, and fees are not included.
The top 10
| # | Company | Since | $1K became |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nvidia | 1999 | $4.6M |
| 2 | Monster Beverage | 1995 | $3.7M |
| 3 | Amazon | 1997 | $2.8M |
| 4 | Netflix | 2002 | $890K |
| 5 | Axon Enterprise | 2001 | $799K |
| 6 | Apple | 2000 | $326K |
| 7 | Broadcom | 2009 | $241K |
| 8 | Tesla | 2010 | $234K |
| 9 | Intuitive Surgical | 2000 | $220K |
| 10 | Bitcoin | 2014 | $175K |
What stands out
The biggest returns come from companies that were small when they started their run. Nvidia, Monster Beverage, and Amazon all traded at single-digit prices in their early years. Buying early and holding through volatility was the common thread.
Tesla and Bitcoin show a different pattern: shorter holding periods but extreme growth. Bitcoin's 52.8% annualized return is the highest on the list, but it comes with far more volatility than the stock picks.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 returned 8-14% annualized over similar periods. Beating the index is rare. Most actively managed funds fail to do it consistently over a decade.
Important context
Hindsight is perfect. Nobody knew in 1999 that Nvidia would become a $3 trillion company. These numbers show what was possible, not what was predictable. The real lesson is time in the market, not timing the market.
Want to run your own numbers? Try the calculator with any company, any start date, any amount.