TickerLeague

Top Stocks by Max Return

We rank stocks by historical max profit: the single best buy date and sell date in our price series, expressed as total return with perfect hindsight. It is a theoretical upper bound for comparing how far a price has run between a trough and a peak—not a return you could plan to capture in advance.

Unlike return since IPO (buy at listing, hold to today), max profit can start after the IPO and uses whichever dates maximize the gain. Useful for seeing how volatile a name has been; not a realistic investing outcome.

Computed from each instrument's full daily price history through .

Stocks ranked by maximum historical return

  • NIKE

    NKE

    Sector
    Consumer Cyclical
    Max return
    +4,953,534%49,536× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Defensive
    Max return
    +4,784,810%47,849× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • NVR

    NVR

    Sector
    Consumer Cyclical
    Max return
    +3,969,660%39,697× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Cyclical
    Max return
    +2,619,488%26,195× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Technology
    Max return
    +2,486,277%24,863× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Cyclical
    Max return
    +2,130,067%21,301× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Defensive
    Max return
    +1,836,460%18,365× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Cyclical
    Max return
    +1,807,557%18,076× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Real Estate
    Max return
    +1,607,177%16,072× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Financial Services
    Max return
    +1,433,775%14,338× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Defensive
    Max return
    +1,331,083%13,311× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Industrials
    Max return
    +1,121,120%11,212× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Technology
    Max return
    +982,443%9,825× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Oracle

    ORCL

    Sector
    Technology
    Max return
    +971,881%9,719× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Healthcare
    Max return
    +916,325%9,164× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Technology
    Max return
    +822,943%8,230× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Healthcare
    Max return
    +786,819%7,869× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Energy
    Max return
    +770,875%7,709× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Apple

    AAPL

    Sector
    Technology
    Max return
    +760,320%7,604× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Amgen

    AMGN

    Sector
    Healthcare
    Max return
    +734,289%7,343× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • NVIDIA

    NVDA

    Sector
    Technology
    Max return
    +696,929%6,970× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Technology
    Max return
    +641,027%6,411× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • KLA

    KLAC

    Sector
    Technology
    Max return
    +609,733%6,098× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Healthcare
    Max return
    +608,458%6,085× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Cyclical
    Max return
    +592,576%5,926× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Communication Services
    Max return
    +568,481%5,685× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Defensive
    Max return
    +497,434%4,975× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Technology
    Max return
    +485,757%4,858× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Technology
    Max return
    +478,459%4,785× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Industrials
    Max return
    +444,270%4,443× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Industrials
    Max return
    +425,604%4,257× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Defensive
    Max return
    +405,044%4,051× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Industrials
    Max return
    +392,120%3,922× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Amazon

    AMZN

    Sector
    Consumer Cyclical
    Max return
    +384,271%3,843× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Industrials
    Max return
    +361,406%3,615× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Financial Services
    Max return
    +360,586%3,606× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Communication Services
    Max return
    +359,046%3,591× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Adobe

    ADBE

    Sector
    Technology
    Max return
    +354,018%3,541× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Defensive
    Max return
    +352,180%3,522× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Cyclical
    Max return
    +325,441%3,255× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Basic Materials
    Max return
    +313,307%3,134× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Industrials
    Max return
    +310,041%3,101× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Industrials
    Max return
    +302,291%3,023× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Industrials
    Max return
    +301,565%3,016× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Financial Services
    Max return
    +298,860%2,989× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Cyclical
    Max return
    +295,221%2,953× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Cyclical
    Max return
    +291,973%2,920× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Industrials
    Max return
    +286,743%2,868× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • RTX

    RTX

    Sector
    Industrials
    Max return
    +285,722%2,858× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell
  • Sector
    Consumer Cyclical
    Max return
    +275,554%2,756× invested
    Best buy
    Best sell

Other rankings

Frequently asked questions

Which stock had the highest max profit ever?

The ranking shows the top performers by maximum possible return. These are theoretical best-case scenarios using the historically optimal buy and sell dates for each stock.

What does 'max profit' mean for a stock?

Max profit is the highest return you could have earned by buying at the best possible date and selling at the best possible date in a stock's history. It represents the theoretical maximum gain with perfect timing.

Is max profit a realistic return I could have earned?

No. Max profit assumes perfect hindsight -- knowing the exact best buy and sell dates in advance. In practice, no investor can consistently time the market this way. It serves as a theoretical upper bound for comparison purposes.

What is the difference between max profit and return since IPO?

Return since IPO measures the gain from holding since the IPO date to today. Max profit finds the optimal buy/sell date pair anywhere in the stock's history. Max profit is always greater than or equal to return since IPO, because it can pick a better entry point than the IPO date.

Can max profit be negative?

In theory, no -- you can always "buy and sell on the same date" for zero return. In practice, all stocks in this ranking have positive max profit because they had at least one period of price increase in their history.

Data & methodology

How is max profit calculated?

We scan each stock's entire price history to find the pair of dates (buy date before sell date) that maximizes the percentage return. This is computed using an efficient algorithm over dividend-adjusted closing prices.

Where does the data come from?

Historical prices are sourced from financial data providers. All prices are end-of-day (EOD) closing prices adjusted for dividends and stock splits, ensuring accurate total return calculations.

How often is this data updated?

Rankings are updated daily. As new closing prices become available, the max profit calculation is refreshed to include the latest data.