These are the 30 best-performing stocks of all time

(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

• New research identifies the 30 best-performing US stocks since 1926.

• Of 29,000 US stocks traded since 1926, most had negative returns, but top names showed consistent returns.

• The study affirms the importance of "time in the market," according to its author, Hendrik Bessembinder.

A new research paper has examined all 29,078 US stocks that have existed since 1926 and identified the top 30 performers of all time.

These stocks, some of them household names, have generated enormous wealth for those who purchased even just one share of the company and held on to it for nearly 100 years.

Of course, identifying the 30 best-performing stocks for the next 100 years is nearly impossible, as the paper's author points out.

"The majority (51.6%) of these stocks had negative cumulative returns," finance professor Hendrik Bessembinder of Arizona State University wrote.

But with a healthy dose of luck, $1 invested in 1926 would have been worth $2.67 million at the end of 2023, assuming it was invested in the right company.

Bessembinder also observed that the 30 best-performing stocks delivered consistently modest annualized gains, reinforcing the slow and steady mantra championed by long-term investors.

"Annualized compound returns to these top performers relatively were modest, averaging 13.47% across the top seventeen stocks, thereby affirming the importance of 'time in the market," Bessembinder wrote.

From soda to cigarettes to computers and airplanes, these are the 30 top-performing US stocks since 1926, according to the paper, which assumed that dividends were reinvested.

1. Emerson Electric

Emerson Electric Company Canadian headquarters is shown in Markham.Reuters/Mike Cassese

Ticker: EMR
Return of $1 invested: $24,098
Investment date: September 5, 1944 - December 29, 2023

1. Walgreens Boots Alliance

A Walgreens store in Richmond, California.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Ticker: WBA
Return of $1 invested: $27,053
Investment date: February 15, 1934 - December 29, 2023

1. Kroger

Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Ticker: KR
Return of $1 invested: $28,345
Investment date: January 26, 1928 - December 29, 2023

1. Pfizer

AP

Ticker: PFE
Return of $1 invested: $28,990
Investment date: January 17, 1944 - December 29, 2023

1. Tootsie Roll

A Tootsie Roll bag of candy is seen in New YorkThomson Reuters

Ticker: TR
Return of $1 invested: $34,401
Investment date: December 31, 1925 - December 29, 2023

1. Bristol-Myers Squibb

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Ticker: BMY
Return of $1 invested: $34,867
Investment date: September 8, 1933 - December 29, 2023

1. Caterpillar

CaterpillarSeth Perlman/ AP Photo

Ticker: CAT
Return of $1 invested: $36,903
Investment date: December 2, 1929 - December 29, 2023

1. FMC Corp

Markets Insider

Ticker: FMC
Return of $1 invested: $37,001
Investment date: April 22, 1931 - December 29, 2023

1. Trane Technologies

Markets Insider

Ticker: TT
Return of $1 invested: $39,238
Investment date: December 31, 1925 - December 29, 2023

1. Northrop Grumman

A UAV helicopter build by Northrop Gruman is on deck aboard the soon to be commissioned littoral combat ship USS Coronado during a media tour in Coronado, California April 3, 2014Reuters

Ticker: NOC
Return of $1 invested: $39,495
Investment date: December 10, 1951 - December 29, 2023

1. Exxon Mobil

AP

Ticker: XOM
Return of $1 invested: $40,273
Investment date: December 31, 1925 - December 29, 2023

1. UST Inc

A man holds an electronic cigarette as he vapes at a Vape Shop in Monterrey, Mexico. UST produced smokeless tobacco products. File photo.Daniel Becerril/Reuters

Ticker: Delisted after acquisition by Altria in 2009
Return of $1 invested: $43,963
Investment date: December 31, 1925 - January 5, 2009

1. CVS Health

CVS said it was reviewing the FDA announcement regarding dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone.MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

Ticker: CVS
Return of $1 invested: $46,939
Investment date: September 27, 1928 - December 29, 2023

1. Archer Daniels Midland

The Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE in New YorkReuters

Ticker: ADM
Return of $1 invested: $51,811
Investment date: December 31, 1925 - December 29, 2023

1. Johnson & Johnson

Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Ticker: JNJ
Return of $1 invested: $54,281
Investment date: September 25, 1944 - December 29, 2023

1. Wyeth

Reuters

Ticker: Delisted after acquisition by Pfizer in 2009
Return of $1 invested: $57,024
Investment date: April 29, 1926 - October 15, 2009

1. Hershey

Hershey

Ticker: H
Return of $1 invested: $69,099
Investment date: December 1, 1927 - December 29, 2023

1. Deere & Co

   

   John Deere equipment is seen at a John Deere dealership in Taylor, TexasReuters

Ticker: DE
Return of $1 invested: $69,886
Investment date: June 29, 1933 - December 29, 2023

1. Universal Corp

   

   Farm workers make their way across a field shrouded in fog as they hoe weeds from a burley tobacco crop near Warsaw, Ky., in this Thursday, July 10, 2008 file photo. Ed Reinke/AP/FILE

Ticker: UVV
Return of $1 invested: $70,318
Investment date: November 11, 1927 - December 29, 2023

1. Abbott Laboratories

REUTERS/Handout via Abbott LaboratoriesThomson Reuters

Ticker: ABT
Return of $1 invested: $78,038
Investment date: March 1, 1937 - December 29, 2023

1. Pepsico

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

Ticker: PEP
Return of $1 invested: $86,360
Investment date: December 31, 1925 - December 29, 2023

1. Coca-Cola

8.5 ounce bottles of Coca-Cola at the Cadillac Championship golf tournament in Doral, Fla.AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

Ticker: KO
Return of $1 invested: $123,724
Investment date: December 31, 1925 - December 29, 2023

1. S&P Global

Getty Images

Ticker: SPGI
Return of $1 invested: $128,787
Investment date: February 14, 1929 - December 29, 2023

1. Eaton

Eaton

Ticker: ETN
Return of $1 invested: $151,173
Investment date: December 31, 1925 - December 29, 2023

1. International Business Machines

Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Ticker: IBM
Return of $1 invested: $175,437
Investment date: December 31, 1925- December 29, 2023

5. Boeing

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner.ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Ticker: BA
Return of $1 invested: $212,206
Investment date: September 5, 1934 - December 29, 2023

1. General Dynamics

General Dynamics MPFGeneral Dynamics via U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center

Ticker: GD
Return of $1 invested: $220,850
Investment date: January 28, 1926 - December 29, 2023

1. Kansas City Southern

Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Ticker: Delisted after 2021 acquisition by Canadian Pacific
Return of $1 invested: $361,757
Investment date: December 31, 1925 - December 13, 2021

1. Vulcan Materials

Vulcan Materials

Ticker: VMC
Return of $1 invested: $393,492
Investment date: December 31, 1925- December 29, 2023

1. Altria Group

AP

Ticker: MO
Return of $1 invested: $2,655,290
Investment date: December 31, 1925 - December 29, 2023

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