Blue-Chip Stocks Ranked by Ten-Year Return

Blue chip is a description of stability rather than a promise of equal performance, and the gap between the best and worst performer in this group over a decade is far wider than the label suggests. Seeing them ordered makes that point more effectively than any amount of prose about diversification.

How this is ordered. Ordered by total return over the trailing ten years, best first, computed from monthly closing prices.

1. 1

   AAPL · Apple

   Consumer hardware and services

   +800%

   Ten-year total return

   Consumer hardware and services. Ten thousand dollars invested a decade ago would be worth roughly $89,980 on price alone, before any dividends are counted, which matters more for the staples and healthcare names on this list than for the technology ones.

   $89,980 from $10,000 over ten years
2. 2

   MSFT · Microsoft

   Enterprise software and cloud

   +731%

   Ten-year total return

   Enterprise software and cloud. Ten thousand dollars invested a decade ago would be worth roughly $83,134 on price alone, before any dividends are counted, which matters more for the staples and healthcare names on this list than for the technology ones.

   $83,134 from $10,000 over ten years
3. 3

   WMT · Walmart

   Retail

   +360%

   Ten-year total return

   Retail. Ten thousand dollars invested a decade ago would be worth roughly $45,947 on price alone, before any dividends are counted, which matters more for the staples and healthcare names on this list than for the technology ones.

   $45,947 from $10,000 over ten years
4. 4

   V · Visa

   Payments network

   +355%

   Ten-year total return

   Payments network. Ten thousand dollars invested a decade ago would be worth roughly $45,502 on price alone, before any dividends are counted, which matters more for the staples and healthcare names on this list than for the technology ones.

   $45,502 from $10,000 over ten years
5. 5

   JPM · JPMorgan Chase

   Banking

   +251%

   Ten-year total return

   Banking. Ten thousand dollars invested a decade ago would be worth roughly $35,100 on price alone, before any dividends are counted, which matters more for the staples and healthcare names on this list than for the technology ones.

   $35,100 from $10,000 over ten years
6. 6

   HD · Home Depot

   Home improvement retail

   +208%

   Ten-year total return

   Home improvement retail. Ten thousand dollars invested a decade ago would be worth roughly $30,756 on price alone, before any dividends are counted, which matters more for the staples and healthcare names on this list than for the technology ones.

   $30,756 from $10,000 over ten years
7. 7

   PG · Procter & Gamble

   Household goods

   +99%

   Ten-year total return

   Household goods. Ten thousand dollars invested a decade ago would be worth roughly $19,938 on price alone, before any dividends are counted, which matters more for the staples and healthcare names on this list than for the technology ones.

   $19,938 from $10,000 over ten years
8. 8

   KO · Coca-Cola

   Consumer staples

   +76%

   Ten-year total return

   Consumer staples. Ten thousand dollars invested a decade ago would be worth roughly $17,621 on price alone, before any dividends are counted, which matters more for the staples and healthcare names on this list than for the technology ones.

   $17,621 from $10,000 over ten years
9. 9

   JNJ · Johnson & Johnson

   Healthcare and pharmaceuticals

   +41%

   Ten-year total return

   Healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Ten thousand dollars invested a decade ago would be worth roughly $14,059 on price alone, before any dividends are counted, which matters more for the staples and healthcare names on this list than for the technology ones.

   $14,059 from $10,000 over ten years
10. 10

    XOM · ExxonMobil

    Energy

    +30%

    Ten-year total return

    Energy. Ten thousand dollars invested a decade ago would be worth roughly $12,966 on price alone, before any dividends are counted, which matters more for the staples and healthcare names on this list than for the technology ones.

    $12,966 from $10,000 over ten years

Inclusion here is not a recommendation. The purpose of the list is to show dispersion within a category people treat as uniform.