Investing $10,000 in Each of These 3 Stocks 10 Years Ago Would Have Made You $1.1 Million

To make $1 million in the stock market, you don’t need to invest a fortune. But you’ll definitely want to take the time to research and find good growth stocks to buy and hold, as they can play an important role in generating life-changing returns for your portfolio.

Three growth beasts that have performed incredibly well during the past decade are Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -0.18%), Eli Lilly (LLY 0.09%), and Builders FirstSource (BLDR -0.20%). Investing $10,000 into each of these stocks 10 years ago would have been enough to make you a millionaire today. Here’s why these stocks have been such great buys, and why it still may not be too late to invest in them.

1. Advanced Micro Devices

The rapid growth in technology has helped Advanced Micro Devices, also known as AMD, generate much stronger financial returns and earn a much higher valuation. The semiconductor company is often seen as a key rival to Nvidia, but at a market cap of about $270 billion, AMD is less than a tenth of the size.

But it has still made for an excellent investment because $10,000 worth of AMD shares bought a decade ago would be worth more than $630,000 today. The tech company has experienced particularly explosive growth in just the past few years with the artificial intelligence (AI) craze creating incredible demand for its chips. Last year, AMD reported $22.7 billion in sales, which is more than double the $9.8 billion it posted just a few years earlier in 2020.

AMD still possesses a lot of upside as it recently unveiled a new AI chip, the MI325X, which may rival Nvidia’s new Blackwell chips. But even if AMD lags its much larger rival, the enormous growth opportunities in AI leave plenty of room for both companies to do well in the years ahead. And with AMD being a more modestly valued company, its stock may have more upside than Nvidia from here on out.

2. Eli Lilly

Healthcare giant Eli Lilly has been more than 10-bagger investment over the past decade as it would have turned a $10,000 investment into about $150,000 today. The big catalyst behind its performance is the excitement surrounding GLP-1 weight loss drugs. The company has what looks to be the best drug on the market in tirzepatide, which is approved for diabetes (Mounjaro) and weight loss (Zepbound).

Analysts see tirzepatide potentially becoming the best-selling drug ever, with its sales topping an estimated $50 billion at its peak; Eli Lilly’s entire business generated $34 billion last year. And tirzepatide’s sales could go even higher than that as studies uncover more benefits from using the drug, including reducing the risk of heart failure, helping people with sleep apnea, and potentially being an effective treatment for fatty liver disease.

The potential for tirzepatide is what could ultimately send Eli Lilly to a $1 trillion valuation and higher in the future. The healthcare stock has a lot of room to rise as both Mounjaro and Zepbound are in their early growth stages. And while there are a growing number of competing weight loss drugs in development from other companies, it won’t be easy to convince patients that there’s a better option than tirzepatide, which has helped people lose close to 27% of their body weight in clinical trials.

3. Builders FirstSource

Builders FirstSource is a big name in construction as it is a key supplier of building products and materials, and it helps its clients with capital projects. A $10,000 investment in the company 10 years ago would be worth more than $390,000 today. Combined with the other $10,000 investments on this list, that would put your total portfolio value at about $1.17 million.

Strong demand for housing in recent years has helped boost Builders’ revenue and profit. In the trailing 12 months, the company reported profit of $1.4 billion on revenue of just over $17 billion, for a solid net margin of more than 8%. That’s up drastically from the $1.6 billion in total revenue and $18 million in earnings which the company generated back in 2014.

As interest rates come down, capital projects and home construction probably will accelerate, which should lead to even greater growth ahead for the business. Although demand hasn’t been great this year, shares of Builders have been rallying in recent months amid the growing optimism that interest rates will be much lower in the near future. But regardless how quickly rates decline, Builders’ position as a top company in building and home construction can make it a solid long-term investment to hold in your portfolio.

David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.