Apple Inc. (AAPL), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR): Do You Know the Top Stocks of the Last Decade?

But you know what? That uneven performance is hardly unique to Monster. With the notable exception of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR), all of these huge gainers started out quickly and slowed down in recent years. Compare and contrast the squiggles on these two charts, detailing the front and back halves of the last decade:

AAPL data by YCharts.

AAPL data by YCharts.

As it turns out, it’s far easier to beat the Dow by a ridiculous margin when you’re a tiny, nimble upstart. Even Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR)’s fantastic run is slowing down, and the stock trades well below all-time highs that were set in 2011. In a span of just nine months, the stock lost 80% of its value as the Keurig money-printing press appeared to break down. Of course, the stock has more than quadrupled again from those 2012 lows, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch in the stock market. Every investment comes with a certain amount of risk — even the strongest performers of years gone by.

So who’s the next Monster Beverage or Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) for the 10 years ahead? Nobody knows, but one thing is for certain: It’s none of these best backward-looking stocks.

The next decade’s biggest gainers will be today’s no-name upstarts or beaten-down near-bankruptcy survivors. Out of this crop of long-term winners, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was by far the largest in 2003 with a $7.3 billion market cap. The other guys weren’t even on the radar, uninvestable micro-caps one and all. Here’s a snapshot of their market caps in the summer of 2003, with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) removed for clarity:

GMCR Market Cap data by YCharts

If you want to win big, you just gotta start small.

The article Do You Know the Top Stocks of the Last Decade? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders’ bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Monster Beverage, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Apple, WisdomTree Investments, and Illumina. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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