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5 Strong Stocks from Companies Still Led By Their Founders
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These days, executive transitions often appease shareholders, especially during tough times—even if it means axing the company’s founder. On top of that, CEOs jump from company to company, making it increasingly rare to see a founder successfully lead their startup into a publicly traded giant and keep the top gig.
Yet there are many notable cases where this does happen. Nearly every casual investor knows that Mark Zuckerberg took Facebook from a Harvard side project into a worldwide super power. Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) Jeff Bezos has quickly risen to become the richest man in the world. And Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) founder Elon Musk has become a household name as CEO based, in part, on his bold vision of the future.
With that said, let’s take a look at some other big-name companies that are still run by their founder that might also be worth investing in at the moment.
Frederick W. Smith founded FedEx in 1971 with the bold idea of using airplanes in the logistics industry. The company is often credited as the founder of the express door-to-door delivery business, which the likes of Amazon and many others have co-opted. Smith still acts as FedEx’s Chairman and CEO and now oversees a company with a market cap of over $70 billion.
Colin Angle and two other MIT roboticists founded iRobot in 1990. Now, nearly 30 years later, Angle still helms the robotics company that has led the way in the automated home cleaning industry. The chairman and chief executive has helped the company sell over 20 million robot vacuums, mops, and pool cleaners worldwide. This robotics industry pioneer has helped his company transform into a multibillion-dollar firm that has seen its stock price climb nearly 50% in the last year alone.
iRobot is currently Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
3. Twitter
Jack Dorsey founded the social media power over a decade ago in San Francisco and, after some time away from the CEO position, heads the firm today. At the moment, Twitter’s importance in terms of breaking news is nearly incalculable. And Twitter’s up to the second worldwide dissemination capabilities are likely to become more important as the use of mobile devices increases around the world. Dorsey’s company now claims a market cap of over $16 billion and boasts 330 million monthly active users.
After founding a massively successful social media company, Dorsey went on to launch this mobile payment and point of sale startup. Since then, Square has helped change the way many small businesses operate. With offices all around the world, Dorsey’s other company now boasts a larger market cap than Twitter and has the potential to expand with a shake up of the traditional banking industry, which Square hopes to be a large part of, on the horizon.
After founding Pure Software in 1991—which was acquired two years later—Reed Hastings co-founded Netflix in 1997. Few could have predicted the company’s rise from upstart DVD rental concept to global media power that is helping reshape the entertainment landscape, but Hastings has been at the wheel the whole way. The CEO plans to remain the leader as Netflix continues to blow past its own lofty subscriber growth predictions.
Netflix is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +18.8% from 2016 - Q1 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +157.0%, +128.0%, +97.8%, +94.7%, and +90.2% respectively.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - Q1 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 11X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
Image: Bigstock
5 Strong Stocks from Companies Still Led By Their Founders
These days, executive transitions often appease shareholders, especially during tough times—even if it means axing the company’s founder. On top of that, CEOs jump from company to company, making it increasingly rare to see a founder successfully lead their startup into a publicly traded giant and keep the top gig.
Yet there are many notable cases where this does happen. Nearly every casual investor knows that Mark Zuckerberg took Facebook from a Harvard side project into a worldwide super power. Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) Jeff Bezos has quickly risen to become the richest man in the world. And Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) founder Elon Musk has become a household name as CEO based, in part, on his bold vision of the future.
With that said, let’s take a look at some other big-name companies that are still run by their founder that might also be worth investing in at the moment.
1. FedEx Corporation (FDX - Free Report)
Frederick W. Smith founded FedEx in 1971 with the bold idea of using airplanes in the logistics industry. The company is often credited as the founder of the express door-to-door delivery business, which the likes of Amazon and many others have co-opted. Smith still acts as FedEx’s Chairman and CEO and now oversees a company with a market cap of over $70 billion.
FedEx is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
2. iRobot Corporation (IRBT - Free Report)
Colin Angle and two other MIT roboticists founded iRobot in 1990. Now, nearly 30 years later, Angle still helms the robotics company that has led the way in the automated home cleaning industry. The chairman and chief executive has helped the company sell over 20 million robot vacuums, mops, and pool cleaners worldwide. This robotics industry pioneer has helped his company transform into a multibillion-dollar firm that has seen its stock price climb nearly 50% in the last year alone.
iRobot is currently Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
3. Twitter
Jack Dorsey founded the social media power over a decade ago in San Francisco and, after some time away from the CEO position, heads the firm today. At the moment, Twitter’s importance in terms of breaking news is nearly incalculable. And Twitter’s up to the second worldwide dissemination capabilities are likely to become more important as the use of mobile devices increases around the world. Dorsey’s company now claims a market cap of over $16 billion and boasts 330 million monthly active users.
Twitter is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
4. Square, Inc. (SQ - Free Report)
After founding a massively successful social media company, Dorsey went on to launch this mobile payment and point of sale startup. Since then, Square has helped change the way many small businesses operate. With offices all around the world, Dorsey’s other company now boasts a larger market cap than Twitter and has the potential to expand with a shake up of the traditional banking industry, which Square hopes to be a large part of, on the horizon.
Square is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
5. Netflix (NFLX - Free Report)
After founding Pure Software in 1991—which was acquired two years later—Reed Hastings co-founded Netflix in 1997. Few could have predicted the company’s rise from upstart DVD rental concept to global media power that is helping reshape the entertainment landscape, but Hastings has been at the wheel the whole way. The CEO plans to remain the leader as Netflix continues to blow past its own lofty subscriber growth predictions.
Netflix is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +18.8% from 2016 - Q1 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +157.0%, +128.0%, +97.8%, +94.7%, and +90.2% respectively.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - Q1 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 11X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
See Them Free>>