Market Insider

These stocks are thousands of percent higher than they traded when the market hit its crisis-era low

Key Points
  • CNBC studied the price performance of stocks in the S&P 500 that were publicly traded 10 years ago, when the market hit bottom and the bull market was born.
  • In a list of the top 25, the best performer has been Ulta Beauty, up more than 7,100 percent, followed by Abiomed and Netflix, both up more than 6,000 percent.
The Charging Bull near Wall Street is pictured in New York.
Carlo Allegri | Reuters

Since the market bottomed during the financial crisis, the has gained more than 312 percent, but some individual stocks have gained thousands of times over.

The S&P 500 cratered on March 6, 2009, when it reached an intraday low of 666. Its closing low came three days later, on March 9, at 676.

CNBC studied the price performance of stocks in the S&P that were publicly traded 10 years ago. In a list of the top 25, the best-performing stock was Ulta Beauty, which is up more than 7,100 percent since then. It is followed by Abiomed and Netflix, both up more than 6,000 percent. Amazon has gained 2,700 percent from that 2009 low. All prices are as of Tuesday's close.

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Expedia is up nearly 2,000 percent, and Bookings Holdings has gained 2,126 percent. Other stocks with gains of more than 1,600 percent include United Continental, up 2,122 percent, Alaskan Air, up 1,500 percent, Nvidia, up 1,790 percent, and Starbucks, up 1,636 percent.

The S&P consumer discretionary sector has been the top performer in the decade since March 2009, gaining 598 percent. Second best has been technology, which is up 522 percent. The financial sector, which represented the epicenter of the crisis, has rebounded 422 percent and is third-best performer. Some key stocks in that sector have bounced back sharply.

AIG, at $5.86 on March 9, 2009, was aided by a 1-for-20 reverse split and has gained 636 percent since then. Bank of America, then trading at $3.75, has gained 675 percent, while J.P. Morgan is up 555 percent from $16.

The lagging industry groups are energy, up just 56 percent, and the communications services sector, up 77 percent.

Based on closing prices March 5, 2019

— CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this story.