Indeed, UNH stock has beaten the broader market by substantial margins over the past five-, 10- and 15-year periods. Nvidia (NVDA) only recently muscled its way into the best stocks of the past three decades. Indeed, although the maker of graphics processing units (GPUs) was founded in 1993, it didn’t go public until 1999. And although NVDA was a longtime market beater over the next decade-plus – and by a wide margin at that – shares went truly ballistic only in the past few years. Not only do the majority of stocks deliver long-term underperformance vs. pretty much the least risky asset you can find, but the great bulk of equity-market wealth is created by just a tiny percentage of the very best stocks.

A strong product ecosystem, high brand loyalty, and innovations in technology are the main drivers in Apple’s revenue and stock price. The article concludes with a discussion of historical stock market events, including the biggest stock gain in one day (Volkswagen in 2008) and the biggest stock gainers ever (Apple and Berkshire Hathaway). Frequently asked questions (FAQs) provide additional insights into historical market events and current stock performance. Tencent (TCEHY), the Chinese multinational technology conglomerate, has delivered an annualized dollar-weighted return of more than 48% over the past three decades. Investors can thank the company’s sprawling operations in the world’s largest consumer market for those eye-popping results. Although TSLA has had some stumbles over the years – production snafus, delivery shortfalls – the hype and promise of the Musk-backed firm has led the market essentially to abandon normal valuation metrics.

of the Most Shocking Stock Increases and Falls

And analysts, hedge funds, billionaires and even Warren Buffett single out Mastercard (MA) in particular as one of their favorite stocks to buy. A string of acquisitions has helped make UnitedHealth Group (UNH) the largest health insurance company by market value and revenue – and by wide margins at that. It’s also the most influential stock in the price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Company

  • Investors should also diversify their portfolio by investing not only in tech-heavy stocks such as APPLE or Nvidia but also in other sectors to mitigate risks and increase their chances of catching big gainers.
  • Later, the Artificial Intelligence gold rush, where GPUs are widely used to train neural networks.
  • By the time it was renamed Monster Energy and at the beginning of 2012, Monster was responsible for about 90 percent of the company’s revenue.
  • Nevertheless, the company remains a top name in total wealth creation.
  • As a result, the Dow stock has been a market laggard for quite some time and has never recaptured its 2000 tech-bubble levels.

In Q2 of 2012, Zynga, a tech company that develops online games, announced it had radically missed projected earnings and subsequently fell more than 40% during after-hours trading that day. These sharp price swings can be caused by unexpected crises, such as wars or pandemics. The resulting short-term volatility may cause sudden price shocks as investors scramble to respond. Apple designs, manufactures, and markets consumer electronics and computer software with online services. The most popular products from Apple include iPhone, iPad, and MacBook. The company has started to produce powerful CPUs such as the M series for laptops and A bionic series for mobile devices, constantly outperforming its competitors.

A short squeeze may happen if the price fails to fall as low biggest stock gainers of all time as the short sellers hoped. In order to close their positions, the short sellers must buy shares of the stock, thereby sending the share price even higher. The article provides a list of companies with the biggest share price gains, including Tractor Supply Co., Altria Group, Monster Beverage Corp, Apple, Volkswagen AG, and Berkshire Hathaway.

Apple Inc.

Speaking of consumer products stocks, none has created more wealth over the past three decades than Switzerland’s Nestlé (NSRGY). Roche also stands out – and does well by its shareholders – as a dividend machine. Indeed, the company is a European Dividend Aristocrat, having maintained or increased its dividend annually for more than three decades. Swiss healthcare giant Roche (RHHBY) is the world’s largest pharmaceutical company by market value, and the second-largest by trailing 12-month revenue.

Tesla has created an astonishing level of wealth so far, and investors seemingly just price shares for more of the same. Meta’ share price has gained roughly 800% in its relatively short life, creating more than $553 billion in wealth. Thanks in no small part to dividends, Johnson & Johnson’s total return comes to 4,220% from 1990 to 2020, per YCharts, versus 1,950% for the S&P 500. If you were to exclude dividends from this Dow stock’s performance, JNJ would have gained just 2,020% over those same 30 years. The second-largest semiconductor manufacturer by market value (after Nvidia) and revenue (after Intel), TSM was founded in 1987. A decade later, the world’s original dedicated semiconductor foundry became the first Taiwanese company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Facebook’s IPO was notoriously disastrous, with a $38 IPO price that dropped to a low of $17.55 just three months later. This reflected poorly on Zynga, whose own numbers were also disappointing. A black swan event is an event that is considered so improbable that market actors cannot adequately prepare for it.

Berkshire Hathaway

Just before this massive spike, Volkswagen was widely believed to be an independently owned entity. “Annualized compound returns to these top performers relatively were modest, averaging 13.47% across the top seventeen stocks, thereby affirming the importance of ‘time in the market,” Bessembinder wrote. German multinational automotive manufacturer Volkswagen Group is one of the well-known auto brands worldwide, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany.

The Biggest Stock Gainers of All Time (

One of the biggest stock gain in one-day trade took place on October 28, 2008. Traders were expecting Volkswagen stock price to drop and started short selling. On October 28, carmaker Porsche announced that it held about 75% stake in the company that was acquired earlier. It’s an understatement to say that the news sharply increased the stock price. The announcement has made the company briefly the highest valued publicly traded car manufacturer.

Blue-Chip Stocks and Long-Term Gains

The biggest gain that occurred in the stock market was in 1933, March 15, when the Dow Jones Industrial increased by 15.34% in a single day. In terms of the long-run gains, more specifically in the past 20 years, the Monster Beverage Corp has shown one of the best results, which after its establishment had gained 87,560% according to 2019 metrics. All the companies that are listed below, are rated based on their percentage growth and not based on how much their revenues grew. To give a correct answer to the following question, it would be better to concretize the time period of defining the stock’s gains. For example, according to the data, in the past 20 years, the stock which has increased the most was Monster Beverage Corp, whose 20-year trailing total returns were estimated at 87.560%. If it’s all about daily gain, then there are two prominent companies, including Dow Jones and Volkswagen.

This was mostly attributed to lower tobacco imports as customers shifted to smokeless alternatives due to health issues. However, the sales pattern seems to have shifted in 2020, with Altria’s revenues rising 2.5 percent while PM’s revenues fell 2.1 percent. The main reason behind the growth of Altria’s revenue was driven by the increase of cigarette price and enhanced demand for tobacco, as well. Despite its short life as a publicly traded company and the ill timing of its IPO – Visa went public in March 2008 during the global financial crisis – the stock has already created $385.0 billion in wealth for shareholders. Heck, including dividends, Visa’s stock has returned 861% over the past 10 years. That beats the S&P 500’s total return by nearly 490 percentage points.

  • If it’s all about daily gain, then there are two prominent companies, including Dow Jones and Volkswagen.
  • However, the sales pattern seems to have shifted in 2020, with Altria’s revenues rising 2.5 percent while PM’s revenues fell 2.1 percent.
  • Shares in Microsoft, which joined the Dow in 1999 at the height of the dot-com boom, generated a total return of 57,730% from 1990 to 2020.
  • Tencent (TCEHY), the Chinese multinational technology conglomerate, has delivered an annualized dollar-weighted return of more than 48% over the past three decades.

Each company is briefly discussed, focusing on its industry, growth metrics, and specific factors contributing to its success. As someone deeply immersed in the world of finance and investment, I can confidently affirm the significance of understanding stock markets and recognizing the companies that have achieved remarkable gains. My experience in analyzing market trends, studying historical data, and assessing the performance of various stocks positions me as an authority on this subject. Its resurgence on the back of low mortgage rates – coupled with a shortage of new housing, which prompted homeowners to stay put and renovate, and, more recently, the pandemic – is what truly made investors’ fortunes.

It is an entertainment company that offers streaming services and television programs with a library of movies, including those produced by the company itself. “The majority (51.6%) of these stocks had negative cumulative returns,” finance professor Hendrik Bessembinder of Arizona State University wrote. Investguiding is a website that shares useful knowledge and insights for everyone about finance, investing, insurance, wealth, loans, mortgages, and credit. All the companies have shown consistent profits and earnings growth over the decades of their existence which is not a small feat.