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FORTUNE 500: 50 best-performing stocks
Shareholders made big bucks last year betting on oil companies but techs, health-care firms and, surprise, an airline also offered top returns.
 NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - With fuel prices reaching dizzying heights last year, it's no surprise that energy companies offered some of the sweetest returns to shareholders in 2005, according to the just-published FORTUNE 500. Energy companies swept 10 of the top 20 spots on FORTUNE's list of the 50 best FORTUNE 500 investments last year.
Wholesale energy marketer Mirant (Research) led the pack, returning a whopping 242.9 percent to shareholders last year. But the huge return was because shares of Mirant jumped from 38.5 cents on Jan. 1, 2005 to more than $1.30 late in the year as the company struggled to emerge from bankruptcy. When Mirant finally came out of Chapter 11 on Jan. 3 of this year, shareholders got just a fraction of their former holdings. Frontier Oil (Research) and Valero Energy (Research) took the No. 2 and 3 spots, returning 183 percent and 128 percent to shareholders respectively. Exxon Mobil, which became the nation's biggest company with sales of $340 billion last year and record profits of $36 billion, returned a paltry 11.7 percent, by comparison. A diverse group of energy companies saw their share prices rise, and turned in robust performance. Coal producer Peabody Energy (No. 7 on the investments list) racked up a one-year return of 104.9 percent. Refiners Sunoco (No. 10) and Marathon Oil (No. 19) chalked up returns of 94.1 percent and 65.7 percent, respectively. Outside of energy, Apple Computer (Research) (No. 4 on the investments list) paid off for investors, returning 123.3 percent. iPod sales didn't miss a beat, helping the company maintain its comfortable lead in the digital music world. Google (Research) proved you can make money without being evil. The market-share leader in the search-engine world came in at No. 6 by total return. That's hardly a shocker, given that its stock broke above $400, after it went public at $85 a share in 2004. But the surprise performer was American Airlines parent AMR (Research), which managed to return 103 percent (putting it at No. 8) as investors bet on a long-awaited recovery for the beleaguered airline industry. The industry – burdened by soaring fuel costs and stiff competition -- was one of only three industry groups tracked by the FORTUNE 1,000 to lose money in 2005. Drug stocks, hurt by product and pipeline problems, were also weak, but other health-care companies did well as medical-care needs grew in step with the aging population. Express Scripts, a manager of pharmacy benefits, snagged the No. 5 spot on the best investments list with a return of 119.3 percent, while health-care plan manager Humana came in at No. 13. Food stocks turned in a mixed year. America's organic food buying frenzy pushed Whole Foods to No. 22 on the best investments list. Poultry producer Pilgrim's Pride, on the other hand, fell off the rankings as worries about an avian flu outbreak flared. (Note: An earlier version of this story didn't include the explanation for Mirant's strong 2005 performance. CNNMoney regrets the omission.)
Full list: 50 best-performing FORTUNE 500 investments 2005 FORTUNE 1000 Companies in Your State |
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