One benchmark that many investors work towards is a portfolio size of $1 million. By attaining that milestone, investors put themselves in a great position to have a comfortable retirement. However, choosing the right stocks to help you get there is no easy task. A stock needs to compound at a fast rate over a long enough period in order to generate the types of returns we’re looking for. In this article, I’ll discuss two stocks that have turned $10,000 into $1 million.
The only Canadian stock to do it
The Canadian stock market currently features many companies that could turn $10,000 into $1 million. However, only one TSX-listed stock has actually done it so far. That’s Constellation Software (TSX:CSU). Despite its long history of success, many Canadians still aren’t familiar with this company because it doesn’t operate a consumer-facing business.
Constellation Software is an acquirer of vertical market software businesses. Historically, it has focused on small- and medium-sized VMS businesses. However, since 2021, the company has begun to target large VMS businesses for acquisition. Regardless of the size of its target, it has shown an ability to seamlessly incorporate that acquisition into its larger business portfolio.
The company’s successes have been reflected in its stock price. Since its initial public offering (IPO), Constellation Software stock has gained about 18,200%. However, you didn’t even have to buy Constellation Software stock at its IPO to generate $1 million. If you had invested $10,000 on January 1, 2010, your $10,000 would be worth over $1 million today. That represents a compound annual return of nearly 40% over that period.
Over the past year, Constellation Software stock has gained nearly 51%. That suggests that this company’s days of high growth generation may not be quite behind it yet. Don’t miss out for another moment.
A very impressive company you should know
Looking into the U.S. stock market now, we can find a handful of companies that have generated returns of $1 million or more. Some of them are companies that you should be very familiar with. The stock I’d like to highlight today is Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). This is a company that needs very little introduction. It’s estimated that Microsoft claims a 73% share of the operating systems market. That’s a formidable lead over other outstanding tech companies, and it isn’t even Microsoft’s only product.
If you had bought 95 shares on March 13, 1990, your position would have been worth $10,123.20. Had you continued holding those shares through to today, you would have seen a return of nearly 50,000%. In other words, your $10,000 would have turned into more than $5 million! Very few stocks can claim the same kind of returns. Microsoft stock has certainly slowed down over the years in terms of its returns. However, over the past year, it has gained about 63%, suggesting it still has lots of legs to grow.
