Year in review: Best-performing stocks of 2020
The stock market weathered a highly unpredictable year in 2020 that saw lows and highs that broke historic records within months of each other. The year started and ended bullish, with long stretches of immense uncertainty.
Massive sell-offs beginning in February amid the coronavirus outbreak caused a stock market crash on March 9, representing the biggest point plunge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) history. By the end of the year, however, the market saw record highs. These historic ups and downs of 2020 made for a volatile market, but proved out again the value in investors being more mindful of long-term performance rather than hourly (or monthly) changes.
Stacker compiled a list of the best performing stocks of 2020 using data from IEX Cloud. Stocks in the S&P 500 were considered. Stocks are ranked by total return.
The stocks represented here don’t necessarily represent the best stocks to invest in currently, just as not all investments work for all portfolios. Keep reading to see which stocks performed best in 2020.
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#50. Maxim Integrated Products Inc
- Total return: 46.5%
- Price return: 44.1%
- Dividend return: 2.3%
- Ticker: MXIM
- Sector: information technology
#49. Xilinx
- Total return: 46.5%
- Price return: 45.0%
- Dividend return: 1.5%
- Ticker: XLNX
- Sector: information technology
#48. KLA Corporation
- Total return: 47.3%
- Price return: 45.3%
- Dividend return: 2.0%
- Ticker: KLAC
- Sector: information technology
#47. United Parcel Service
- Total return: 47.3%
- Price return: 43.9%
- Dividend return: 3.5%
- Ticker: UPS
- Sector: industrials
#46. PerkinElmer
- Total return: 48.1%
- Price return: 47.8%
- Dividend return: 0.3%
- Ticker: PKI
- Sector: health care
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#45. Zebra Technologies
- Total return: 50.5%
- Price return: 50.5%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: ZBRA
- Sector: information technology
#44. MarketAxess
- Total return: 51.1%
- Price return: 50.5%
- Dividend return: 0.6%
- Ticker: MKTX
- Sector: financials
#43. Adobe Inc.
- Total return: 51.6%
- Price return: 51.6%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: ADBE
- Sector: information technology
#42. Tractor Supply Company
- Total return: 52.1%
- Price return: 50.4%
- Dividend return: 1.6%
- Ticker: TSCO
- Sector: consumer discretionary
#41. IPG Photonics Corp.
- Total return: 54.4%
- Price return: 54.4%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: IPGP
- Sector: information technology
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#40. SVB Financial
- Total return: 54.5%
- Price return: 54.5%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: SIVB
- Sector: financials
#39. Old Dominion Freight Line
- Total return: 54.7%
- Price return: 54.3%
- Dividend return: 0.5%
- Ticker: ODFL
- Sector: industrials
#38. DaVita Inc.
- Total return: 56.5%
- Price return: 56.5%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: DVA
- Sector: health care
#37. Activision Blizzard
- Total return: 57.0%
- Price return: 56.3%
- Dividend return: 0.7%
- Ticker: ATVI
- Sector: communication services
#36. Deere & Co.
- Total return: 57.0%
- Price return: 55.3%
- Dividend return: 1.8%
- Ticker: DE
- Sector: industrials
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#35. Bio-Rad Laboratories
- Total return: 57.5%
- Price return: 57.5%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: BIO
- Sector: health care
#34. Lam Research
- Total return: 63.2%
- Price return: 61.5%
- Dividend return: 1.7%
- Ticker: LRCX
- Sector: information technology
#33. Chipotle Mexican Grill
- Total return: 65.7%
- Price return: 65.7%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: CMG
- Sector: consumer discretionary
#32. Autodesk Inc.
- Total return: 66.4%
- Price return: 66.4%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: ADSK
- Sector: information technology
#31. Netflix Inc.
- Total return: 67.1%
- Price return: 67.1%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: NFLX
- Sector: communication services
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#30. Twitter Inc.
- Total return: 69.0%
- Price return: 69.0%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: TWTR
- Sector: communication services
#29. DexCom
- Total return: 69.0%
- Price return: 69.0%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: DXCM
- Sector: health care
#28. Take-Two Interactive
- Total return: 69.7%
- Price return: 69.7%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: TTWO
- Sector: communication services
#27. Paycom
- Total return: 70.8%
- Price return: 70.8%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: PAYC
- Sector: information technology
#26. FedEx Corporation
- Total return: 73.4%
- Price return: 71.7%
- Dividend return: 1.7%
- Ticker: FDX
- Sector: industrials
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#25. MSCI Inc
- Total return: 74.1%
- Price return: 73.0%
- Dividend return: 1.1%
- Ticker: MSCI
- Sector: financials
#24. T-Mobile US
- Total return: 74.2%
- Price return: 74.2%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: TMUS
- Sector: communication services
#23. QUALCOMM Inc.
- Total return: 75.6%
- Price return: 72.7%
- Dividend return: 2.9%
- Ticker: QCOM
- Sector: information technology
#22. Amazon.com Inc.
- Total return: 76.3%
- Price return: 76.3%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: AMZN
- Sector: consumer discretionary
#21. Teradyne
- Total return: 76.4%
- Price return: 75.8%
- Dividend return: 0.6%
- Ticker: TER
- Sector: information technology
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#20. Pool Corporation
- Total return: 76.5%
- Price return: 75.4%
- Dividend return: 1.1%
- Ticker: POOL
- Sector: consumer discretionary
#19. Quanta Services Inc.
- Total return: 77.4%
- Price return: 76.9%
- Dividend return: 0.5%
- Ticker: PWR
- Sector: industrials
#18. Rollins Inc.
- Total return: 77.9%
- Price return: 76.7%
- Dividend return: 1.2%
- Ticker: ROL
- Sector: industrials
#17. Apple Inc.
- Total return: 81.8%
- Price return: 80.7%
- Dividend return: 1.1%
- Ticker: AAPL
- Sector: information technology
#16. Catalent
- Total return: 84.8%
- Price return: 84.8%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: CTLT
- Sector: health care
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#15. Synopsys Inc.
- Total return: 86.2%
- Price return: 86.2%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: SNPS
- Sector: information technology
#14. West Pharmaceutical Services
- Total return: 88.9%
- Price return: 88.5%
- Dividend return: 0.4%
- Ticker: WST
- Sector: health care
#13. ABIOMED Inc
- Total return: 90.0%
- Price return: 90.0%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: ABMD
- Sector: health care
#12. IDEXX Laboratories
- Total return: 91.4%
- Price return: 91.4%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: IDXX
- Sector: health care
#11. Align Technology
- Total return: 91.5%
- Price return: 91.5%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: ALGN
- Sector: health care
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#10. ServiceNow
- Total return: 95.0%
- Price return: 95.0%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: NOW
- Sector: information technology
#9. Cadence Design Systems
- Total return: 96.7%
- Price return: 96.7%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: CDNS
- Sector: information technology
#8. Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
- Total return: 98.7%
- Price return: 98.3%
- Dividend return: 0.4%
- Ticker: FCX
- Sector: materials
#7. Advanced Micro Devices Inc
- Total return: 100.0%
- Price return: 100.0%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: AMD
- Sector: information technology
#6. Albemarle Corp
- Total return: 104.1%
- Price return: 102.0%
- Dividend return: 2.1%
- Ticker: ALB
- Sector: materials
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#5. L Brands Inc.
- Total return: 106.9%
- Price return: 105.2%
- Dividend return: 1.7%
- Ticker: LB
- Sector: consumer discretionary
#4. PayPal
- Total return: 116.5%
- Price return: 116.5%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: PYPL
- Sector: information technology
#3. Nvidia Corporation
- Total return: 122.2%
- Price return: 121.9%
- Dividend return: 0.3%
- Ticker: NVDA
- Sector: information technology
#2. Etsy
- Total return: 301.6%
- Price return: 301.6%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: ETSY
- Sector: consumer discretionary
#1. Tesla
- Total return: 743.4%
- Price return: 743.4%
- Dividend return: 0.0%
- Ticker: TSLA
- Sector: consumer discretionary
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