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The 50 Best One-Year Returns on the S&P 500 (1980-2022)

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The top S&P 500 stocks by annual return from 1980 to 2022, organized clockwise by year. Qualcomm is the top stock with an annual return of 2,620% in 1999.

The Top S&P 500 Stocks by Annual Returns

The average annual return of the S&P 500 was 10% from 1980-2022, excluding dividends. Of course, there are some companies that deliver much higher returns in any given year.

In this graphic using data from S&P Dow Jones Indices, we explore the top S&P 500 stocks with the best single year returns over the last four decades.

Ranking the Top S&P 500 Stocks

In order to find the top gainers, S&P took the top 10 best-performing stocks each year and then narrowed that list down to the top 50 overall. They ranked the top S&P 500 stocks by price returns, meaning that no dividends or stock distributions were included.

The best gains were clustered in a few select years, including the 1999 dot-com boom, the 2003 stock market rally, and the 2009 recovery from the Global Financial Crisis. None of the biggest gains happened in 2021 or 2022.

RankCompanySectorReturnYear
1QualcommInformation Technology2620%1999
2TeslaConsumer Discretionary743%2020
3DSC CommunicationsCommunication Services468%1992
4Coleco IndustriesConsumer Discretionary435%1982
5AvayaInformation Technology428%2003
6ChryslerConsumer Discretionary426%1982
7XL Capital (Axa XL)Financials395%2009
8Tenet HealthcareHealthcare369%2009
9DynegyUtilities361%2000
10Advanced Micro DevicesInformation Technology348%2009
11SprintCommunication Services343%1999
12FordConsumer Discretionary337%2009
13NEXTEL CommunicationsCommunication Services336%1999
14LSI LogicInformation Technology319%1999
15NVIDIAInformation Technology308%2001
16Nortel NetworksCommunication Services304%1999
17EtsyConsumer Discretionary302%2020
18Genworth FinancialFinancials301%2009
19Micron TechnologyInformation Technology300%2009
20NetFlixCommunication Services298%2013
21OracleInformation Technology290%1999
22Western DigitalInformation Technology286%2009
23Network Appliance (NetApp)Information Technology270%1999
24Data GeneralInformation Technology267%1991
25YahooCommunication Services265%1999
26Williams CompaniesEnergy264%2003
27NovellInformation Technology264%1991
28DynegyUtilities263%2003
29Sun MicrosystemsInformation Technology262%1999
30PMC-SierraInformation Technology262%2003
31Advanced Micro DevicesInformation Technology259%1991
32DellInformation Technology248%1998
33Global MarineEnergy247%1980
34Micron TechnologyInformation Technology243%2013
35Best BuyConsumer Discretionary237%2013
36ReebokConsumer Discretionary234%2000
37Freeport-McMoRanMaterials229%2009
38Biomet (Zimmer Biomet)Healthcare226%1991
39NVIDIAInformation Technology224%2016
40GapConsumer Discretionary223%1991
41NetFlixCommunication Services219%2010
42Fleetwood Enterprises (Fleetwood RV)Consumer Discretionary217%1982
43National SemiconductorInformation Technology217%1999
44DellInformation Technology216%1997
45Tandy Corp (RadioShack)Information Technology216%1980
46NovellInformation Technology215%2003
47CorningInformation Technology215%2003
48CB Richard Ellis (CBRE)Real Estate214%2009
49AES CorpUtilities213%2003
50ExpediaConsumer Discretionary212%2009

Qualcomm was by far the top-performer in any one calendar year window. The company had key patents for Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology, which enabled fast wireless internet access and became the basis for 3G networks.

Its stock took off in 1999 as it shed less profitable business lines, resolved a patent dispute with competitor Ericsson, and joined the S&P 500 Index. At the time, CNN reported that one lucky investor who heard about Qualcomm from an investment-banker-turned-rabbi earned $17 million—roughly $30 million in today’s dollars.

The most recent stocks to make the rankings were both from 2020: well-known Tesla (#2) and lesser-known online marketplace Etsy (#17), which saw sales from independent creators surge during the early COVID-19 pandemic. The dollar value of items sold on Etsy more than doubled from $5.3 billion in 2019 to $10.3 billion in 2020, with mask sales accounting for 7% of the total.

Biggest Gainers in Each Sector

While information technology stocks made up nearly half of the list, there is representation from nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors. No companies from the Industrials or Consumer Staples sectors made it into the ranks of the top S&P 500 stocks by annual returns.

Below, we show the stock with the best annual return for each sector.

Bubbles sized by annual return show the top S&P 500 stocks by annual gain for each stock market sector. Tesla is the top Consumer Discretionary stock with an annual return of 743% in 2020.

Tesla was the top-performing Consumer Discretionary stock on the list. After meeting the requirement of four consecutive quarters of positive earnings, it joined the S&P 500 Index on December 21, 2020. The company’s performance was boosted by the announcement that it would be included in the S&P 500, along with strong performance in China, and general EV buzz as environmental regulations tightened worldwide.

In the realm of Communication Services, DSC Communications saw a sizable return in 1992. The telecommunications equipment company had contracts with major companies such as Bell and Motorola. Alcatel-Lucent (then Alcatel), a French producer of mobile phones, purchased DSC Communications in 1998.

Serial Success Stories

It’s impressive to make the list of the top S&P 500 stocks by calendar returns once, but there are seven companies that have done it twice.

Some stocks saw their repeated outperformance close together, with Dell making the ranks back-to-back in 1997 and 1998.

Stocks that have appeared on the list of the top S&P 500 annual gains more than once, organized on a timeline with bubbles sized by the return amount. Dell made the list back to back in 1997 and 1998.

On the other hand, a select few have more staying power. Computing giant NVIDIA topped the charts in 2001 and triumphed again 15 years later in 2016. And this year might be another win, as the company has recently reached a $1 trillion market capitalization and has the highest year-to-date return in the S&P 500 as of July 6, 2023.

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The 50 Most Valuable Companies in the World in 2023

The world’s 50 most valuable companies represent over $25 trillion in market cap. We break this massive figure down by company and sector.

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The 50 Most Valuable Companies in the World

Market capitalization, or market cap, is one measure of a company’s value as determined by the stock market. It is easily calculated by multiplying the company’s outstanding shares by its current share price.

In this graphic, we present a treemap chart that visualizes the world’s top 50 publicly-traded companies by market cap, using data as of Aug. 16, 2023.

Editor’s note: While market capitalization is a simple way to compare publicly-traded companies, it does have some limitations. Most importantly, it does not include debt or cash in the calculation.

Data and Highlights

All of the data we used to create this graphic is included in the table below.

CompanySectorCountryMarket Cap
(USD billions)
AppleInformation Technology🇺🇸 US$2,777
MicrosoftInformation Technology🇺🇸 US$2,382
Saudi AramcoEnergy🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia$2,222
AlphabetCommunication Services🇺🇸 US$1,636
AmazonConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 US$1,385
NVIDIAInformation Technology🇺🇸 US$1,074
Berkshire HathawayFinancials🇺🇸 US$774
Meta PlatformsCommunication Services🇺🇸 US$754
TeslaConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 US$715
Eli LillyHealth Care🇺🇸 US$519
VisaInformation Technology🇺🇸 US$501
TSMCInformation Technology🇹🇼 Taiwan$476
UnitedHealthHealth Care🇺🇸 US$469
Johnson & JohnsonHealth Care🇺🇸 US$448
LVMHConsumer Discretionary🇫🇷 France$442
JPMorgan ChaseFinancials🇺🇸 US$436
Exxon MobilEnergy🇺🇸 US$430
WalmartConsumer Staples🇺🇸 US$429
Novo NordiskHealth Care🇩🇰 Denmark$418
TencentCommunication Services🇨🇳 China$389
MastercardInformation Technology🇺🇸 US$374
Procter & GambleConsumer Staples🇺🇸 US$361
BroadcomInformation Technology🇺🇸 US$344
SamsungInformation Technology🇰🇷 South Korea$341
Home DepotConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 US$335
Kweichow MoutaiConsumer Staples🇨🇳 China$319
NestléConsumer Staples🇨🇭 Switzerland$319
OracleInformation Technology🇺🇸 US$313
ChevronEnergy🇺🇸 US$297
MerckHealth Care🇺🇸 US$276
AbbVieHealth Care🇺🇸 US$267
Coca-ColaConsumer Staples🇺🇸 US$262
ASMLInformation Technology🇳🇱 Netherlands$258
PepsicoConsumer Staples🇺🇸 US$249
CostcoConsumer Staples🇺🇸 US$248
L'OréalConsumer Discretionary🇫🇷 France$244
RocheHealth Care🇨🇭 Switzerland$241
International Holding CompanyFinancials🇦🇪 UAE$240
AdobeInformation Technology🇺🇸 US$235
Bank of AmericaFinancials🇺🇸 US$233
AlibabaConsumer Discretionary🇨🇳 China$228
HermèsConsumer Discretionary🇫🇷 France$227
ToyotaConsumer Discretionary🇯🇵 Japan$220
NovartisHealth Care🇨🇭 Switzerland$216
AstraZenecaHealth Care🇬🇧 UK$216
CiscoInformation Technology🇺🇸 US$216
Reliance IndustriesEnergy🇮🇳 India$213
McDonaldConsumer Discretionary🇺🇸 US$208
Thermo Fisher ScientificHealth Care🇺🇸 US$204
ShellEnergy🇬🇧 UK$204

From this data, we can see that there are only a handful of trillion dollar companies in the world, including Apple, Microsoft, Saudi Aramco, Amazon, Alphabet, and Nvidia.

Two former members of the trillion dollar club are Meta and Tesla, but both companies currently hover around the $700 billion range in terms of market capitalization. In 2022, Meta lost significant value as its earnings fell, while Tesla suffered from demand concerns.

Altogether, the 50 most valuable companies represent over $26.5 trillion in shareholder value. At a sector level, Information Technology is the most represented in the top 50, with $9.3 trillion in combined market cap. The next biggest sectors are Consumer Discretionary ($4.0 trillion) and Health Care ($3.3 trillion).

Geographical Breakdown

At a geographical level, the majority of the 50 most valuable companies are American. The following chart shows each country’s tally.

Most valuable companies by country

After the U.S., the three most represented countries are Switzerland, France, and China, with three companies apiece.

From Switzerland are companies such as Nestlé, Roche, and Novartis. The latter two are major players in the healthcare industry.

France’s companies in the top 50 list all belong to the Consumer Discretionary sector, and include fashion giants LVMH and Hermès, as well as L’Oréal, a global leader in cosmetics. Earlier this year, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault was officially the richest person in the world with a fortune of $215 billion.

Finally, from the Chinese side are two globally-recognized names in Tencent and Alibaba. China’s third company on this list is Kweichow Moutai, a partially state-owned producer of alcoholic beverages.

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