Since e-commerce skyrocketed in recent years and online shopping has replaced traditional stores more and more, especially following the Covid-19 pandemic, it is absolutely logical that Amazon appears on the list of the biggest stock gainers of all time. Established in 1997, Amazon has generated a total return of 212,922%, and since then, it has never ceased to grow its profit from year to year. A $10,000 stake in this company’s shares 25 years ago would now be worth around $21.3 million, which is the highest total return, compared to any other stock in the past 30 years.

It might sound unexpected, but Monster Beverage has been a real success in generating a total return, which was 212,468%, second only to Amazon. Starting as a fruit juice company, and switching to iced tea and natural sodas later, Monster Beverage Corp ended up producing a trend for caffeinated beverages. Sales have grown from $92 million in 2002 to more than $2 billion in 2012. The average annual return generated by its shares since its creation in 1995 has been around 35.4%. Meaning, that $10,000 invested in Monster Beverage stock back in 1995 would now be worth more than $21.2 million.

Global tobacco manufacturer Altria Group might come as another less-expected corporation that has faced outstanding growth in the price of its stocks. Established in 1985, it was operating under the name of Phillip Morris until 2003 and was not that successful from the beginning. However, after adopting the name Altria, its stock has gained 61,599% in overall value, with a 23.9% average annual return, regardless of all the pressure and restrictions on the tobacco industry. Meaning we could have $6.2 million today if we had invested $10,000 in Altria's shares 2 decades ago. 

Unfortunately, Altria Group has not maintained that speed until today, as its shares went down by 14% in 2020. This happened due to lingering public health concerns over the safety of vaping and legal challenges coming from the Federal Trade Commission. Nowadays, due to the high demand on the market, Altria Group happens to produce e-cigarettes called IQOS. 

Even though Tractor Supply Co. focuses on a very specific niche, over the past 20 years the company has generated a total return of 45,750%. Tractor Supply is a retail store, offering its product to individuals whose primary occupation is not farming, in other words, to the people who do farming as a hobby or a lifestyle. For that reason, it is worth noting that the company has managed to grow significantly by targeting this very specific market and to have one of the biggest share gains in history. The stock price today of Tractor Supply Co. is $195.36. And it continues to operate successfully, regardless of the Covid-19 pandemic.

UnitedHealth Group was founded in 1991 and is one of the most significant health insurance providers in the USA. Over the past 3 decades, it has generated a total return of 63,395% and continues to grow the value of its shares even today as they have more than doubled the total return since 2015. A $10,000 investment in UnitedHealth shares 30 years ago would be worth around $6.3 million today.

To summarize, we could see that the industries being the biggest stock gainers may vary, and every business has an equal chance to increase their annual return and make their stock prices go higher from year to year. The easiest way to discover the best-performing stock is to compare how much each invested dollar on the day of its creation could bring today. However, each of the companies listed above has been significant for their history in their fields. For example, Monster created a trend for caffeinated beverages, which are not recommended for children, pregnant women, and people sensitive to caffeine. Tractor Supply Co. supplied the growing number of hobbyist farmers, which is quite a specific market and thus risky to start with, but eventually, it paid off.