It’s Been 25 Years Since the Dotcom Bubble Burst. Here Are the Stocks You Wish You’d Bought

It’s been 25 years since the Dotcom Bubble burst, and in honor of that milestone, Bespoke Investment Group has put together a list of some of the best-performing stocks of the past quarter century. Some of them have posted astounding results.

According to Bespoke, a little over half of the stocks in the Russell 1000 today were around 25 years ago. Those that were have posted an average gain of more than 2,600% since the Dotcom Bubble peaked.

Nearly 300 of those stocks have been 10-baggers—i.e., they’ve gone up 10x, or 1,000%. And 19 have been 100-baggers, meaning they’ve risen by 10,000%, in the last 25 years.

The Convenience-Store Staple That’s Beat Nvidia

It might be reasonable to assume that the best-performing stocks of the last quarter century are mostly tech stocks. After all, eight of America’s 10 most valuable companies are either in the tech sector or are tech-driven media and consumer companies. 

However, the best-performing Russell 1000 stock since March 24, 2000, has been energy-drink maker Monster Beverage (MNST). Monster shares have risen 127,477% in the last 25 years; Nvidia (NVDA), the runner-up, has gained 66,004%, according to Bespoke. A $1,000 investment in Monster in March 2000 would now be worth $1,275,770, compared with an Nvidia stake worth $661,038.

Nvidia and Apple (AAPL) are the only big tech 100-baggers, though that’s partly because nearly half of the Magnificent Seven weren’t public until after 2000. Meta (META), Alphabet (GOOG), and Tesla (TSLA) shares have risen about 1,300%, 6,800%, and 22,000%, respectively, since their IPOs.

Rounding out the top five 100-baggers are Texas Pacific Land (TPL), which owns and leases oilfields in the Permian Basin; Deckers Outdoor (DECK), the maker of UGG, Hoka, and Teva footwear; and Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL), a freight provider. A $1,000 investment in those companies on March 24, 2000, would now be worth about $626,000, $530,000, and $305,000 respectively. 

Farm equipment retailer Tractor Supply Co. (TSCO), and auto parts retailers O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY) and Autozone (AZO) are on the list of 100-baggers. The only tech stocks to join Nvidia and Apple on the list are Fair Isaac (FICO), the creator of the FICO credit score, and ANSYS (ANSS), which develops engineering modeling software.

Top Stocks Since the Covid-19 Crash

This March isn’t just a major Dotdom Bubble anniversary; it’s also the fifth anniversary of the Covid-19 crash, which bottomed out on March 23, 2020. Since that day, energy stocks have been among the Russell 1000’s biggest gainers, accounting for 4 of the 5 best performers. The only non-energy stock to crack the top 5 is Bitcoin-proxy Strategy (MSTR), formerly MicroStrategy. 

Also among the 25 best-performing stocks of the last 5 years are meme stock GameStop (GME), up about 2,500%; and AI favorites Super Micro Computer (SMCI) and Vistra (VST), up 2,400% and 1,000%, respectively.