Baseball is one of the few worlds as much in love with statistics as the stock market is.
In baseball, the “30-30 Club” is for players who hit at least 30 home runs and steal at least 30 bases in the same season. Think Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Barry Bonds and only 48 other players in the history of the game.
In the stock market, I track my own 30-30 Club. It’s for corporations that achieve five-year profit growth of 30% a year and score at least a 30% return on stockholders’ equity.
Using software from Gurufocus.com, I found 20 companies made my 30-30 club this year. I recommend three of them.
Deckers Outdoor
You may not know the name Deckers Outdoor Corp. (DECK) but you might be familiar with their products — Ugg boots and Hoka shoes.
Unlike most of the 30-30 companies, Deckers has a stock that isn’t high-priced. Shares go for about 15 times earnings.
Of the 27 Wall Street analysts who follow this stock, just over half (14) call it a buy. I think the analysts are worried that earnings growth is slowing: It averaged nearly 31% for the past five years, but was only about 15% last year.
This month, the company announced PinkPantheress, a British singer, song writer and producer, will be the face of its social-media campaign. I don’t know much about the Pantheress, but I have a good feeling about the stock.
Exelixis
Exelixis inc. (EXEL), with headquarters in Alameda, Calif., is a biotech firm that develops and markets cancer drugs, sometimes in partnership with Roche, a giant Swiss pharmaceutical firm.
Sales passed the $2 billion mark in 2024 and have risen at a 20% clip the past five years. Earnings growth has averaged close to 34% over that period and was above 55% last year.
Considering that growth, I think the stock is quite reasonably priced at about 16 times earnings. Yet most analysts aren’t wild about the stock, fearing (among other things) competition from Merck & Co. in treatment of kidney cancers.
The balance sheet is terrific, with debt only 8% of stockholders’ equity.
MPLX
MPLX LP (MPLX) is an oil-and-gas pipeline company affiliated with Marathon Petroleum TK. It’s structured as a limited partnership, which has certain tax advantages but complicates the tax return for shareholders, who receive an annual Form K-1.
If you’re not afraid of K-1s (or if you have an accountant who isn’t), I think MPLX is worth consideration. It offers a 7% dividend yield (as of early April) and has raised dividends at almost an 11% annual pace in the past three years.
The stock has doubled in the past five years, and sells for about 12 times earnings.
Honor Roll
Stocks of the other 17 members of the 30-30 Club this year are mostly on the expensive side. But they deserve to be honored for their achievement as companies.
They are Argan Inc. (AGX), Arista Networks Inc. (ANET), Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARWR), Chewy Inc. (CHWY), Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG), Comfort Systems USA Inc. (FIX), Emcor Group Inc. (EME), GE Aerospace (GE), Howmet Aerospace Inc. (HWM), IES Holdings Inc. (IESC), InterDigital Inc. (IDCC) and Powell Industries Inc. (POWL).
Also: Ross Stores Inc. (ROST), Sterling Infrastructure Inc. (STRL), TJX Companies Inc. (TJX), Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA) and Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT).
Performance
I’ve been compiling my 30-30 Club for 23 years. In two of those years, I didn’t recommend any of the stocks, but in 21 years, I did.
The average 12-month return on my recommendations in this series has been 21.2%, more than double the 9.1% average for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Total Return Index. Thirteen of the 21 sets of picks showed a profit, and 13 beat the S&P 500.
Bear in mind that my column results are hypothetical and shouldn’t be confused with results I obtain for clients. Also, past performance doesn’t predict the future.
My recommendations a year ago, in April 2025, caught lightning in a bottle. Powell Industries Inc. (POWL), a maker of electrical transmission equipment, advanced 304%, helped by electricity demand from power-hungry data centers.
Sterling Infrastructure (STRL), which builds those centers among other things, returned 230%. Crocs Inc. (CROX) chipped in 10%. Docusign Inc. (DOCU) detracted, falling 43%.
The overall result was a gain of 125%, which dwarfed the 28% return on the S&P 500. I doubt I’ll ever get that lucky again.
Disclosure: I own Sterling Infrastructure personally and for almost all of my clients. I’m thankful for its gains, but I’m not sure I would launch a new position at today’s prices.