As 2019 comes to a close, a new decade will be upon us. The incredible bull market will also be in its 11th year since the V-bottom marked in March of 2009. And with each new decade comes an opportunity to review the best and the worst in many categories to see what has been working and what may continue to work ahead. Speculative investors love the “ten-bagger” term, which is an investment that rises tenfold, or 1,000%.

24/7 Wall St. has identified 10 stocks that have risen 1,000% or more since the last trading day of 2009. These are of course unofficial “decade” gains at this point because the year still has more than three weeks to continue. That said, any ten-bagger would have to fall handily to not be considered as an outstanding return at this point. The S&P 500 has risen roughly 370% from its plunge-depth lows of 666 in March of 2009, but since the last day of 2009, the S&P 500 is up about 200%.

It’s important to realize that putting together a full list of ten-baggers over any decade might be hard to do. After all, there are recurring dividends, special dividends and reinvestment rates to consider, as well as what the reinvestment actually went back into, stock splits, game-changing mergers and spin-offs. There are also some companies that end up getting acquired along the way that would have otherwise made a list of such strong performers.

We have compiled 10 of the so-called ten-baggers, along with some runner-ups, since the last trading day of 2009 for your review. Some of these companies have seen gains of as much as 4,000%. Shockingly, the list of top gainers among the mostly $10 billion and higher stocks is not just loaded up with internet, tech or biotech, as most would have assumed.

These prices have been adjusted for splits and dividends, if applicable. These percentages also have been rounded out for simplicity, but we have included the last day’s trading price of 2009 on a split- and dividend-adjusted basis. We have also screened out the companies with less than $5 billion in market cap, but most are worth well over $10 billion.

Netflix
> Up 3,800%

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) most recently closed at $307.35 a share. It has not been in a merger that clouded its performance or share price, and of course it pays no dividend as it keeps spending billions on its own shows and movies. Imagine the return if the stock was at its peak of $385.99 before Disney decided to go it alone in streaming. Netflix’s share price on December 31, 2009, was $7.87, but its gains would have been more than 4,000% had this been calculated earlier this year.

MarketAxess
>Up 3,000%

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTX) may still not be a household name with every American, but the firm allows for electronic trading for corporate and other bonds and fixed-income products bought and sold mostly at the institutional level. It is now worth over $14 billion and most recently closed at $375.90 a share (down from a high of $421.45), versus $12.48 on a dividend-adjusted basis on the last day of 2009.

Abiomed
> Up Almost 2,100%

This medical device company has won from its heart-failure pumping functions outfit loved the past decade, and its market cap is now over $8.5 billion. More recently, its value was much higher. At $189.22 a share most recently, Abiomed Inc. (NASDAQ: ABMD) is down from a 52-week high of $364.31 and down even more from a $450 or so peak in the middle of 2018. Its price on December 31, 2009, was $8.73.

TransDigm
> Up over 2,000%

The Cleveland-based company designs and makes aircraft components, and it now has a $31 billion market cap. Most recently trading at $570.11, TransDigm Group Inc. (NYSE: TDG) was not even 2% under its 52-week high, but it is up from $25.94 on December 31, 2009, after reflecting multiple special dividend payouts.

United Rentals
>Up 1,500%

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) has made some strategic acquisitions to help it grow in the United States and elsewhere, but the business fundamentally remains the same, even if it has been expanded with buyouts. It leads in equipment rentals of multiple manufacturers for heavy industry, infrastructure and other construction efforts. Its share price was $9.81 at the end of 2009, compared with $157.26 and an $11.8 billion market now. Its shares recently hit a 52-week high of $159.39, but it peaked above $180 at the start of 2018.

Align Technology
> Up Over 1,400%

Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN) is now worth almost $22 billion, and it has Invisalign and other dental/aesthetic offerings to thank for its success. At $275.72 a share, it is down from a 52-week high of $334.64, and its all-time high in 2018 was almost $400. Shares closed out 2009 at $17.82.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
> Up over 1,400%

At $372.26 most recently and with more than a $40 billion market cap, its price on the last day of 2009 was $24.18 a share. Its 52-week high of $442.00 and all-time high above $550 in 2015 would have made for even more impressive gains from trough to peak. This biotech outfit went from an unassuming mid-cap stock to one of the top biotechs by market capitalization. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) and its developmental or collaboration partners treat issues around the eyes, skin and inflammation.

Ulta Beauty
> Up about 1,400%

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA) has taken over as the largest salon and beauty related products and services in America and now has more than 1,200 stores. At a time when omnichannel and online offerings have risen, it has thrived. At $262.20 a share with a $15 billion market cap, its 52-week high is actually an even more impressive $368.83. Ulta closed out 2009 at $17.96 on a special dividend-adjusted basis.

Nvidia
> Up over 1,100%

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) has gone from graphics and video games into all the hot buzzwords for now and the future: artificial intelligence, machine learning, crypto-mining, super-processors from GPUs, Internet of Things, self-driving cars and so on. At $212.17, with a $130 billion market cap, this stock is down from a 52-week high of $221.41, but it actually peaked earlier in 2018 just above $280. Nvidia’s dividend-adjusted share price was $17.20 on December 31, 2009.

Take-Two Interactive Software
> Up over 1,100%

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) closed out 2009 at $10.05, versus $123.73 most recently. The company is still best known for Grand Theft Auto video games and it still does not pay a dividend. The $14 billion market cap is not the largest of the video game makers, and its shares are also down close to 10% from its 2019 high of $135.70, but it was up close to $140 briefly in 2018.

Runners-Up

These runners-up have been involved in acquisitions or have made large changes since 2010.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) is the surviving parent of the Avago and Broadcom merger, which has continued to make acquisitions and returned to a U.S. domicile, and it could have been on the list. The shares were last seen at $316.05, but that was up from a dividend-adjusted price of $15.34 on December 31, 2009.

T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) remains entangled in its multiyear acquisition attempts to bring Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) into its grasp, and it would be just short of the ten-bagger category, without wondering if its shares could have kept climbing without the distraction of a large and contested merger.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) is up about 20-fold from under $2 in mid-2015, but its longstanding history of ups and downs dates back more than 30 years, and it was closer to $8 during the time-frame used for this reference.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is up about 11 times its absolute lows of closer to $18, but that was after a major fall after its IPO, and it was not even public at the start of 2010.

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