Over the past decade and half, 25 listed companies have gained 100x or more in value in the U.S. and Europe. The top performer was XPEL, a Texas-based firm that specializes in automotive surface protection and window tint solutions. XPEL, founded in 1997, has returned 1,182x (i.e., a $100 investment would have grown to $118, 200!). Number two was Patrick Industries, the Indiana-based supplier of parts for RVs and mobile homes, returned 654x. Both XPEL and PATK are relatively tiny companies with market capitalizations of $1.1 billion and $3.0 billion, respectively.
Source: Thierry from arvy; Syz Group (blog.syzgroup.com). (Note, growth as of April 3, 2024)
Interestingly, this list also includes two of the world’s biggest companies NVIDIA and Netflix. NVIDIA, now the largest company in the world with a market cap of $5.5 trillion, has soared in value by over 31,000%! Fifteen years prior it was still a relatively large ~$18 billion company making this growth all the more remarkable.
Source: Yahoo Finance and Mantabye. Click to enlarge.
There are other interesting breakdowns. While most of the firms above are 20-40 years old, the oldest is over 150 years. German biopharma Sartorius was founded way back in 1870 and it's time to be a growth stock finally arrived! Not surprisingly, nearly half of the companies (11) are in tech; four hardware-focused (NVIDIA, Entegris, SMCI, and Besi) and seven software-oriented. Other sectors represented include industrials (5), health care (3), consumer discretionary (3), consumer services (2), and real estate (Sagax). Similarly, more than half (14) are based in the U.S., followed by Europe (9). Finally, based on the most common categorizations of market cap, 23 of these companies were either micro or small-cap companies when their remarkable growth started. Forward 15 years, eight had graduated to mid-cap status, ten to large-cap status, and two (you know who) became mega caps. One, AVIS, also became a meme stock--which certainly has helped its return.
In hindsight, investing in NVIDIA, Netflix, Super Micro, etc. seem pretty obvious. But it's worth remembering there are tens of thousands of publicly traded companies at any given time. Just 25 returned 100x (over the sample period). Good luck finding them! Compare that to the odds hitting the jackpot in private markets. Venture capitalists argue that the most successful companies' growth happen before they go public (which is why you should, naturally, give them your money!). But even VC returns are highly skewed; their 'spray and pray' approach means perhaps only 1 in 40 investments may return a10x, let alone a 100x. So, if you happen to have invested in any one of the above companies in the past 10-15 years, then you've done:
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