These are the best-performing stocks over the last 3 months, 6 months, one year, three years, five years, and 10 years.
All stocks on the list must meet the following basic requirements:
- At least $1 billion market capitalization
- At least a $5 share price
- At least 2 million in daily average volume.
These criteria are chosen to avoid tiny companies which may have a great run one year but disappear the next. The criteria also tend to filter out pharma and biotech stocks that may jump a huge amount in a single day due to a data release on a clinical trial. The idea of this list is to highlight stocks that have been steady climbers, not single-day jumpers.
Stocks with pending buy-outs (that I am aware of) have been removed, as these stocks typically offer limited upside going forward.
All data is sourced from StockRover as of May 31, 2023. Returns include dividends and assume reinvestment. These lists are updated near the start of each month.
Best Performing Stocks Over the Last 3 Months
These are the top-performing stocks over the last three months, as of May 31, 2023.
| Ticker | Company Name | 3-Month Performance | Average Volume (3 Months) | Market Capitalization | |
| 1 | IMGN | Immunogen | 253% | 6.4 million | $3.1 billion |
| 2 | AZUL | AZUL | 134% | 3.5 million | $1.2 billion |
| 3 | IONQ | IonQ | 133% | 6.2 million | $2.2 billion |
| 4 | VKTX | Viking Therapeutics | 100% | 4.7 million | $2.2 billion |
| 5 | RIOT | RIOT Platforms | 100% | 21.6 million | $2.1 billion |
| 6 | APP | AppLovin | 86% | 2.6 million | $9.1 billion |
| 7 | ISEE | IVERIC bio | 84% | 3.5 million | $5.2 billion |
| 8 | PLTR | Palantir Technologies | 84% | 47.9 million | $31.2 billion |
| 9 | AI | C3.ai | 80% | 22.8 million | $4.5 billion |
| 10 | GFI | Gold Fields | 70% | 5.9 million | $13.5 billion |
Best Performing Stocks Over the Last 6 Months
These are the top-performing stocks over the last six months, as of May 31, 2023.
| Ticker | Company Name | 6-Month Performance (%) | Average Volume (3 Months) | Market Capitalization ($) | |
| 1 | VKTX | Viking Therapeutics | 457% | 4.7 million | $2.2 billion |
| 2 | TGTX | TG Therapeutics | 228% | 4.1 million | $4 billion |
| 3 | AI | C3.ai | 227% | 22.8 million | $4.5 billion |
| 4 | RIOT | Riot Platforms | 183% | 21.6 million | $2.1 billion |
| 5 | IMGN | Immunogen | 172% | 6.4 million | $3.1 billion |
| 6 | OSCR | Oscar Health | 161% | 3.4 million | $1.6 billion |
| 7 | NVDA | NVIDIA | 142% | 45.2 million | $934.5 billion |
| 8 | META | Meta Platforms | 142% | 24.9 million | $678.4 billion |
| 9 | ETNB | 89bio | 133% | 2.1 million | $1.3 billion |
| 10 | IONQ | IonQ | 123% | 6.2 million | $2.2 billion |
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Best Performing Stocks Over the Last Year
These are the top-performing stocks over the last twelve months, as of May 31, 2023.
| Ticker | Company Name | 1-Year Performance (%) | Average Volume (3 Months) | Market Capitalization ($) | |
| 1 | VKTX | Viking Therapeutics | 842% | 4.7 million | $2.2 billion |
| 2 | ENTB | 89bio | 510% | 2.1 million | $1.3 billion |
| 3 | TGTX | TG Therapeutics | 415% | 4.1 million | $4 billion |
| 4 | IMGN | Immunogen | 255% | 6.4 million | $3.1 billion |
| 5 | ISEE | IVERIC bio | 243% | 3.5 million | $5.2 billion |
| 6 | FSLR | First Solar | 182% | 2.9 million | $21.7 billion |
| 7 | YPF | YPF | 136% | 2.1 million | $4.3 billion |
| 8 | ROIV | Riovant Sciences | 125% | 2.9 million | $6.9 billion |
| 9 | HIMS | Hims & Hers Health | 119% | 3.8 million | $1.9 billion |
| 10 | MLCO | Melco Resorts and Entertainment | 109% | 3 million | $4.8 billion |
Best Performing Stocks Over the Last 3 Years
These are the top-performing stocks over the last three years, as of May 31, 2023.
| Ticker | Company Name | 3-Year Performance (%) | Average Volume (3 Months) | Market Capitalization ($) | |
| 1 | GME | GameStop | 2122% | 4.3 million | $7.3 billion |
| 2 | MARA | Marathon Digital Holdings | 1233% | 32.9 million | $1.6 billion |
| 3 | ISEE | IVERIC bio | 860% | 3.5 million | $5.2 billion |
| 4 | PR | Permian Resources | 789% | 7.1 million | $2.9 billion |
| 5 | AR | Antero Resources | 540% | 5.4 million | $6.1 billion |
| 6 | BLDR | Builders FirstSource | 461% | 2.2 million | $14.8 billion |
| 7 | BTU | Peabody Energy | 456% | 3.4 million | $2.6 billion |
| 8 | RIOT | Riot Platforms | 443% | 21.6 million | $2.1 billion |
| 9 | ON | ON Semiconductor | 421% | 6.6 million | $36.1 billion |
| 10 | ENLC | EnLink Midstream | 405% | 2.2 million | $4.6 billion |
Best Performing Stocks Over the Last 5 Years
These are the top-performing stocks over the last five years, as of May 31, 2023.
| Ticker | Company Name | 5-Year Performance (%) | Average Volume (3 Months) | Market Capitalization ($) | |
| 1 | ENPH | Enphase Energy | 2789% | 3.8 million | $23.8 billion |
| 2 | ISEE | IVERIC bio | 1273% | 3.5 million | $5.2 billion |
| 3 | TSLA | Tesla | 949% | 128.8 million | $646.4 billion |
| 4 | AMD | Advanced Micro Devices | 755% | 64.7 million | $190.4 billion |
| 5 | TTD | Trade Desk | 729% | 3.5 million | $34.3 billion |
| 6 | GME | Game Stop | 701% | 4.3 million | $7.3 billion |
| 7 | NVDA | NVIDIA | 504% | 45.2 million | $934.5 billion |
| 8 | BLDR | Builders FirstSource | 495% | 2.2 million | $14.8 billion |
| 9 | LLY | Eli Lilly | 459% | 3.2 million | $407.7 billion |
| 10 | FTNT | Fortinet | 458% | 4.3 million | $53.7 billion |
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Best Performing Stocks Over the Last 10 Years
These are the top-performing stocks over the last ten years, as of May 31, 2023.
| Ticker | Company Name | 10-Year Performance (%) | Average Volume (3 Months) | Market Capitalization ($) | |
| 1 | NVDA | NVIDIA | 10,976% | 45.2 million | $934.5 billion |
| 2 | AMD | Advanced Micro Devices | 2826% | 64.7 million | $190.4 billion |
| 3 | TSLA | Tesla | 2815% | 128.8 million | $646.4 billion |
| 4 | AVGO | Broadcom | 2670% | 2.4 million | $336.4 billion |
| 5 | DXCM | DexCom | 2189% | 2.2 million | $45.5 billion |
| 6 | PLUG | Plug Power | 2136% | 20.6 million | $5 billion |
| 7 | ENPH | Enphase Energy | 2130% | 3.8 million | $23.8 billion |
| 8 | FTNT | Fortinet | 1671% | 4.3 million | $53.6 billion |
| 9 | BLDR | Builders First Source | 1595% | 2.2 million | $14.8 billion |
| 10 | AAPL | Apple | 1166% | 56.3 million | $2.8 trillion |
How to Trade The Best Performing Stocks
Best performing means the stock has had a great run. It is historical information. It doesn’t necessarily tell us where the stock is going in the future.
To put the odds in our favor going forward, we use a strategy. A strategy is a tested set of rules that tells us when to enter and exit trades, and that provides a profit overall when implementing it. We will never win on every trade, but if our wins are bigger than our losers, then we only need to be right 50% of the time to make a profit. We can even be right only 40% or 30% of the time, and still be profitable, if our wins are much bigger than our losses.
For most of my swing trading strategies, I look for stocks that are performing better than the market indices. This is a good universe of stocks to trade within since they are already doing something we want: performing well.
In these stocks that are performing well, I like to look for specific patterns. These are part of my strategy, and they tell me when it is time to enter and exit these stocks.
Some examples of these patterns include:
- The Contraction Pattern – This is a type of pause in an uptrend, called a contraction or triangle. Once the price starts moving up again, up and out of the contraction, it is time to consider buying. A contraction pattern can also form as part of a cup-and-handle pattern.
- The Double Consolidation Pattern – This occurs after a pullback once the price starts rising again. It can signal an opportunity to enter as the uptrend resumes.
- A Trend Channel is a type of uptrend where similar-sized rallies and pullbacks occur over and over again. Once we have isolated a trend channel, and know the rules for trading it, we can profit from the recurring pattern.
These are swing trading strategies. Trades typically last several days to a couple of months.
For ideas on swing trading stocks, also keep an eye on the Best Swing Trading Stocks List and the Weekly Swing Trading Watchlist.
These concepts are based on the idea of buying strong stocks as they emerge from patterns and continue moving up. Many famous and successful traders have used this type of approach, including Jesse Livermore and William O’Neil (founder of IBD/Inverstors.com).
If you are more interested in longer-term trades, I discuss that in the next section.
Are the Best Performing Stocks the Best Stocks to Invest In?
The best-performing stocks are the stocks we wished he had owned, not necessarily the stocks we want to own going forward. Some will continue to do great, but most will underperform over the next several years.
When looking for long-term investments, steady performers are better than short-term rockets. Those short-term rockets can be hard to catch, especially if you aren’t watching the market all the time.
For long-term investing, I stick with stocks that have great fundamentals and a growing business.
I provide a list of such stocks in Top Buy and Hold Stocks, which is updated every month or two (although the stocks rarely change much).
But even that takes some work and some skill in determining when to buy the stocks.
If you are new to investing, don’t have a lot of time, or just want the simplest approach to investing, then I recommend passive investing. It is a great way to build wealth by regularly contributing to low-cost ETFs (instead of individual stocks). Not much thinking is required, just keep repeating the process. The process is laid out in 100-Year Time-Tested Method for Compounding Returns.
Warren Buffett, a guy who knows a thing or two about long-term investing, recommends most people use that passive ETF approach.
How to Scan for the Best Performing Stocks
Scanning for the best-performing stocks is relatively easy. It doesn’t require buying any software.
Use a free site like Finviz. Go to the Screener tab. Input some basic criteria such as volume, price, and market capitalization (and anything else you want). The list of stocks that meet the criteria will automatically update.
Then, click the Performance tab just above the list of stocks. This will show how all the stocks on the list have performed. Sort the list by one year (Perf Year) to see the top-performing stocks over the last year.
This is just one example. Most stock screeners can do the same thing.
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By Cory Mitchell, CMT
Disclaimer: Nothing in this article is personal investment advice, or advice to buy or sell anything. Trading is risky and can result in substantial losses, even more than deposited if using leverage. Data is sourced from third parties and is intended for information purposes only. There may be errors in data, so check with other sources before relying on such data.
