Key figures from the chart
- NVIDIA is the top performer in all four periods, with total returns from +2,462% over five years to +92,790% over twenty.
- Texas Pacific Land (TPL) is the only other company in all four lists. Axon appears in three.
- Over the same periods the S&P 500 returned +87% (5 years), +194% (10 years), +443% (15 years) and +399% (20 years).
- Returns are measured to 30 November 2024 and include dividends as well as price gains.
- The chart is by Visual Capitalist and cites YCharts, accessed via the Bilello Blog.
Top performing S&P 500 stocks in text
Title: Top Performing S&P 500 Stocks, based on total return. The chart has four panels of eight stocks each, plus the index for comparison. Rank numbers are our own; the chart orders each panel from highest to lowest return.
Past 5 years
| Rank | Company | Ticker | Total return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NVIDIA | NVDA | +2,462% |
| 2 | Tesla | TSLA | +1,469% |
| 3 | Supermicro | SMCI | +1,432% |
| 4 | Axon | AXON | +777% |
| 5 | Quanta Services | PWR | +738% |
| 6 | Arista | ANET | +732% |
| 7 | TPL | TPL | +681% |
| 8 | Builders FirstSource | BLDR | +634% |
| Index | S&P 500 | +87% |
Past 10 years
| Rank | Company | Ticker | Total return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NVIDIA | NVDA | +27,360% |
| 2 | AMD | AMD | +4,817% |
| 3 | TPL | TPL | +3,558% |
| 4 | FICO | FICO | +3,216% |
| 5 | Builders FirstSource | BLDR | +2,927% |
| 6 | Axon | AXON | +2,912% |
| 7 | Broadcom | AVGO | +2,148% |
| 8 | Arista | ANET | +2,040% |
| Index | S&P 500 | +194% |
Past 15 years
| Rank | Company | Ticker | Total return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NVIDIA | NVDA | +47,035% |
| 2 | TPL | TPL | +19,952% |
| 3 | Axon | AXON | +15,051% |
| 4 | Broadcom | AVGO | +14,039% |
| 5 | FICO | FICO | +12,800% |
| 6 | Netflix | NFLX | +10,631% |
| 7 | United Rentals | URI | +9,544% |
| 8 | Domino’s | DPZ | +7,271% |
| Index | S&P 500 | +443% |
Past 20 years
| Rank | Company | Ticker | Total return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NVIDIA | NVDA | +92,790% |
| 2 | Netflix | NFLX | +54,258% |
| 3 | TPL | TPL | +30,461% |
| 4 | Apple (logo only) | AAPL | +22,923% |
| 5 | Booking.com | BKNG | +21,694% |
| 6 | Monster Energy | MNST | +15,439% |
| 7 | Intuitive | ISRG | +13,889% |
| 8 | Amazon | AMZN | +10,577% |
| Index | S&P 500 | +399% |
Footnote as printed: “As of Nov. 30, 2024. Total return takes into account capital gains plus any dividends/distributions made. Source: YCharts (accessed via Bilello Blog)”. Footer: Visual Capitalist logo and a banner for its Voronoi app.
What the S&P 500 is
The S&P 500 is a stock market index that tracks 500 companies listed on US stock exchanges with large market capitalisations. It is weighted by market capitalisation, so the largest companies move the index most. It took its present 500-company form on 4 March 1957 [2]. Every stock on this chart was a member when the chart was made, which is why AMD, Domino’s and United Rentals sit beside household names such as Apple and Amazon.
Why Texas Pacific Land keeps appearing
TPL is less well known than the technology names around it. Wikipedia describes it as a Dallas-based company that owns more than 880,000 acres in 20 West Texas counties. It was created in 1888 to dispose of the land holdings of the bankrupt Texas and Pacific Railway, and its main business today is royalties from oil and gas, plus selling water to the oil and gas industry [3].
Visual Capitalist’s own notes on the chart single out two other unexpected names: Domino’s Pizza at +7,271% and United Rentals at +9,544% over 15 years [1].
Notes on this infographic
- Data date. All returns are to 30 November 2024. They are historical figures, not a forecast, and the rankings will have changed since.
- 15 years beats 20 years. The index shows +443% over 15 years but only +399% over 20. By our arithmetic from those two figures (1 + 3.99 divided by 1 + 4.43), the S&P 500’s total return from November 2004 to November 2009 was about minus 8%.
- Logos. Apple appears as its logo only; we have added the name.
- Survivors only. The lists include only companies in the index at the end of the period, so they say nothing about companies that fell out of it.
Questions about S&P 500 returns
What if I invested $10,000 in the S&P 500 20 years ago?
Using the chart’s 20-year total return of +399% to 30 November 2024, $10,000 invested at the end of November 2004 would have grown to about $49,900, before any fees or taxes. That is our arithmetic from the chart’s figure, not a quoted result.
What stocks consistently beat the S&P 500?
On this chart, NVIDIA and Texas Pacific Land beat the index in all four periods, and Axon in three. Every stock listed beat the index for its period, because the lists are the top eight performers [1].
Is AMD in the S&P 500?
The chart lists AMD second over ten years, with a total return of +4,817%, which places it in the index as of November 2024 [1].
Sources
- Visual Capitalist, The Best Performing S&P 500 Stocks Over Time, Voronoi, 7 December 2024.
- Wikipedia, S&P 500.
- Wikipedia, Texas Pacific Land Corporation.
Last reviewed 29 October 2026
