Which Top-Performing Stocks Delivered 1,000%+ Returns Over the Last 5 Years?

When markets swing wildly, many investors feel rattled. 2025 has certainly tested that patience with significant volatility across financial markets. Yet historically, the stock market has consistently rewarded patient investors with strong long-term gains. The S&P 500 climbed approximately 91% over the past five years despite facing serious challenges—from pandemic disruptions and inflation spikes to fresh trade policy uncertainties. The Dow Jones index rose roughly 62% in the same period, while Nasdaq more than doubled. These are solid returns by any measure, but they pale compared to what the top-performing stocks achieved over the last 5 years.

The Stark Contrast: Broad Market vs. Individual Winners

The broad indices tell one story, but individual stocks tell quite another. The ten top-performing stocks over the last 5 years tell a dramatically different tale. While the Dow gained 62% and the Nasdaq doubled, investors lucky enough to hold the right positions saw their money multiply tenfold or more. Some of these stocks surged by over 1,000%, transforming modest investments into substantial portfolios. This performance gap raises an important question: what allowed certain securities to dramatically outpace the market?

Why Do Certain Stocks Skyrocket While Markets Climb Steadily?

The answer lies partly in starting valuations. Many of the top-performing stocks over the last 5 years began trading near rock-bottom prices—often around $1 per share or less. When a stock trades at such depressed levels, even modest price appreciation translates into eye-popping percentage gains. A 30-fold price increase from $1 to $30 represents a 2,900% return, whereas the same dollar appreciation from $50 to $80 would only be a 60% gain.

GameStop provides a textbook example. In mid-2020, the gaming retailer traded below $1.25 per share, valuing the entire company relatively cheaply. The stock attracted attention in early 2021 when professional short-sellers bet heavily against it, predicting further decline. Instead, a wave of retail investors mobilized, purchasing shares en masse and short-squeezing institutional positions. The result was spectacular: the stock rocketed more than 1,500% in just weeks. By mid-2025, GameStop trades around $30 per share. A $100 investment made in June 2020 would have grown to over $2,500—a 25-fold return that far exceeds what typical market participants achieved.

GameStop and Beyond: Top-Performing Stocks Over the Last 5 Years

GameStop’s extraordinary journey wasn’t unique. Ten stocks demonstrated similarly exceptional growth trajectories during this period, each climbing at least 1,000% from their 2020 lows. Here’s the breakdown:

Limbach Holdings (LMB)

• June 2020 closing price: $3.10
• June 2025 closing price: $132.41
• 5-year return: 4,171%

Innodata Inc. (INOD)

• June 2020 closing price: $1.25
• June 2025 closing price: $44.97
• 5-year return: 3,498%

MicroStrategy (MSTR)

• June 2020 closing price: $11.80
• June 2025 closing price: $378.10
• 5-year return: 3,104%

GameStop (GME)

• June 2020 closing price: $1.18
• June 2025 closing price: $29.95
• 5-year return: 2,438%

Danaos Corporation (DAC)

• June 2020 closing price: $3.97
• June 2025 closing price: $84.89
• 5-year return: 2,038%

Sterling Infrastructure (STRL)

• June 2020 closing price: $10.51
• June 2025 closing price: $193.81
• 5-year return: 1,744%

Celestica Inc. (CLS)

• June 2020 closing price: $6.57
• June 2025 closing price: $119.90
• 5-year return: 1,725%

Modine Manufacturing (MOD)

• June 2020 closing price: $5.35
• June 2025 closing price: $91.66
• 5-year return: 1,613%

Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW)

• June 2020 closing price: $2.71
• June 2025 closing price: $46.16
• 5-year return: 1,603%

FTAI Aviation (FTAI)

• June 2020 closing price: $10.37
• June 2025 closing price: $122.82
• 5-year return: 1,084%

What This Means for Investors Today

The performance of top-performing stocks over the last 5 years offers important lessons. First, timing and selection matter enormously. Identifying deeply discounted securities that later stage a recovery requires research and sometimes fortune. Second, these historical returns shouldn’t create unrealistic expectations for future investing. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results, and many stocks don’t recover from distressed valuations. Third, the stocks that generated these gains typically carried substantial risk. Their low prices reflected genuine business challenges and investor skepticism.

Today’s investors can study these patterns but must remain cautious about drawing direct parallels. The conditions that created those opportunities—pandemic-era valuations, specific industry recoveries, retail investor enthusiasm—may not repeat identically. Solid diversification and realistic return expectations remain prudent strategies for building long-term wealth, even when reflecting on extraordinary top-performing stocks that achieved such remarkable gains over the last 5 years.