The 5 Best Performing Dow Jones Industrial Stocks in 2018

2018 was a volatile year for the stock market represented by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The blue chip index was down 5.97% for the year, which derails a roaring bull market lasting a decade.

Even though the Dow, made up of 30 blue chip companies, was down for the year, there were still individual winners as well as losers. So let's take a look at the 5 best performing stocks of the Dow Jones Industrial Average for 2018.

5. Visa Inc

2018 returns-16.58%
Market Cap-299 billion
PE-30
Yield-0.76%

4. Microsoft Corporation

2018 returns-18.21%
Market Cap-776.35 billion
PE-41.65
Yield-1.82%

3. Nike Inc.

2018 returns-18.4%
Market Cap-117.61 billion
PE-56.19
Yield-1.19%

2. Pfizer Inc.

2018 returns-19.41
Market Cap-250 billion
PE-10.92
Yield-3.36%

1. Merck & Co Inc.

2018 returns-34.33
Market Cap-196.56 billion
PE-61.21
Yield-2.92%

I should note that I always favor long-term investing, one calendar year isn’t really that long at all, but I just find it interesting to see which companies outperformed. I would make the argument that it is virtually impossible for anyone to have known in advance which stock price would be higher at the end of the year.

One thing I find quite interesting is that a company the size of Microsoft could still put up such returns in a year. Satya Nadella seems to be an effective CEO, and I would like to note that both Microsoft as well as Apple are now run by CEOs who came up under the founding CEOs of each company. In other words, Satya Nadella and Tim Cook were both groomed by the visionary founders of each company(Bill Gates and Steve Jobs), they are a product of the management training efforts of each corporation. This was a key concept discussed in Jim Collins’ book “Built to Last.” A truly great and enduring company can groom each generation of management to perform in line with the culture of the organization.

Here’s to another exciting year in the stock market!