QQQ   337.27 (+1.86%)
AAPL   175.05 (+1.37%)
MSFT   318.52 (+1.44%)
META   246.85 (+1.80%)
GOOGL   122.83 (+1.65%)
AMZN   118.15 (+2.29%)
TSLA   176.89 (+1.74%)
NVDA   316.78 (+4.97%)
NIO   7.82 (-2.62%)
BABA   85.77 (-5.41%)
AMD   107.93 (+4.03%)
T   16.55 (-0.66%)
F   11.64 (+1.22%)
MU   67.57 (+4.08%)
CGC   1.05 (+0.00%)
GE   104.01 (+0.52%)
DIS   93.76 (+1.07%)
AMC   5.07 (-0.59%)
PFE   36.48 (-0.73%)
PYPL   61.27 (-0.31%)
NFLX   371.29 (+9.22%)
QQQ   337.27 (+1.86%)
AAPL   175.05 (+1.37%)
MSFT   318.52 (+1.44%)
META   246.85 (+1.80%)
GOOGL   122.83 (+1.65%)
AMZN   118.15 (+2.29%)
TSLA   176.89 (+1.74%)
NVDA   316.78 (+4.97%)
NIO   7.82 (-2.62%)
BABA   85.77 (-5.41%)
AMD   107.93 (+4.03%)
T   16.55 (-0.66%)
F   11.64 (+1.22%)
MU   67.57 (+4.08%)
CGC   1.05 (+0.00%)
GE   104.01 (+0.52%)
DIS   93.76 (+1.07%)
AMC   5.07 (-0.59%)
PFE   36.48 (-0.73%)
PYPL   61.27 (-0.31%)
NFLX   371.29 (+9.22%)
QQQ   337.27 (+1.86%)
AAPL   175.05 (+1.37%)
MSFT   318.52 (+1.44%)
META   246.85 (+1.80%)
GOOGL   122.83 (+1.65%)
AMZN   118.15 (+2.29%)
TSLA   176.89 (+1.74%)
NVDA   316.78 (+4.97%)
NIO   7.82 (-2.62%)
BABA   85.77 (-5.41%)
AMD   107.93 (+4.03%)
T   16.55 (-0.66%)
F   11.64 (+1.22%)
MU   67.57 (+4.08%)
CGC   1.05 (+0.00%)
GE   104.01 (+0.52%)
DIS   93.76 (+1.07%)
AMC   5.07 (-0.59%)
PFE   36.48 (-0.73%)
PYPL   61.27 (-0.31%)
NFLX   371.29 (+9.22%)
QQQ   337.27 (+1.86%)
AAPL   175.05 (+1.37%)
MSFT   318.52 (+1.44%)
META   246.85 (+1.80%)
GOOGL   122.83 (+1.65%)
AMZN   118.15 (+2.29%)
TSLA   176.89 (+1.74%)
NVDA   316.78 (+4.97%)
NIO   7.82 (-2.62%)
BABA   85.77 (-5.41%)
AMD   107.93 (+4.03%)
T   16.55 (-0.66%)
F   11.64 (+1.22%)
MU   67.57 (+4.08%)
CGC   1.05 (+0.00%)
GE   104.01 (+0.52%)
DIS   93.76 (+1.07%)
AMC   5.07 (-0.59%)
PFE   36.48 (-0.73%)
PYPL   61.27 (-0.31%)
NFLX   371.29 (+9.22%)

Blue Chip Stocks

A blue chip stock is a large, financially-sound, nationally-recognized and well-established business that trades on public markets. Blue chip companies usually sell high-quality and broadly-used products and services. They are known for their long-term track records of stable and reliable growth, helping them operate profitably regardless of current economic conditions. Learn more about blue chip stocks.

MarketRank evaluates a company based on community opinion, dividend strength, institutional and insider ownership, earnings and valuation, and analysts forecasts.
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Media sentiment refers to the percentage of positive news stories versus negative news stories a company has received in the past week.
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Analyst consensus is the average investment recommendation among Wall Street research analysts.
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Analyst ConsensusUpgrade to All Access to use the All Ratings Filter
CompanyCurrent PricePE RatioMarket CapVolumeAverage VolumeIndicator(s)
Alcoa Co. stock logo
AA
Alcoa
$36.81
+0.2%
N/A$6.57 billion3.32 million4.91 millionEx-Dividend
Analyst Report
AbbVie Inc. stock logo
ABBV
AbbVie
$143.44
+0.1%
33.91$253.07 billion4.76 million5.89 millionAnalyst Report
Analyst Revision
American Express stock logo
AXP
American Express
$153.48
+0.9%
16.14$114.07 billion2.35 million3.46 millionAnalyst Report
The Boeing Company stock logo
BA
Boeing
$207.24
+0.2%
N/A$124.67 billion4.34 million5.96 millionShort Interest ↓
Analyst Revision
Bank of America Co. stock logo
BAC
Bank of America
$28.47
-0.4%
8.55$226.88 billion50.73 million54.45 millionAnalyst Report
Citigroup Inc. stock logo
C
Citigroup
$46.39
-1.5%
6.47$90.31 billion16.93 million18.59 millionAnalyst Report
Caterpillar Inc. stock logo
CAT
Caterpillar
$214.72
+1.2%
15.87$110.66 billion2.60 million3.26 millionAnalyst Report
Short Interest ↓
Analyst Revision
The Cigna Group stock logo
CI
The Cigna Group
$256.49
-2.6%
11.69$75.89 billion1.72 million1.81 million
Chevron Co. stock logo
CVX
Chevron
$154.01
-0.1%
8.32$291.79 billion7.46 million8.16 millionAnalyst Report
Options Volume
DuPont de Nemours, Inc. stock logo
DD
DuPont de Nemours
$66.89
+2.0%
5.80$30.70 billion4.13 million3.12 millionAnalyst Upgrade
Insider Selling
Short Interest ↓
The Walt Disney Company stock logo
DIS
Walt Disney
$93.76
+1.1%
41.67$171.33 billion14.86 million11.12 millionAnalyst Report
Short Interest ↓
Analyst Revision
General Electric stock logo
GE
General Electric
$104.01
+0.5%
13.56$113.26 billion4.59 million7.35 millionAnalyst Report
Short Interest ↓
General Motors stock logo
GM
General Motors
$32.90
+1.4%
5.09$45.73 billion14.11 million15.05 millionAnalyst Report
The Home Depot, Inc. stock logo
HD
Home Depot
$295.16
+0.9%
17.70$298.90 billion4.53 million3.89 millionEarnings Report
Dividend Announcement
Analyst Report
Analyst Revision
News Coverage
HP Inc. stock logo
HPQ
HP
$30.74
+1.6%
12.25$30.28 billion4.75 million6.10 millionDividend Announcement
Analyst Report
Short Interest ↓
International Business Machines Co. stock logo
IBM
International Business Machines
$126.15
+0.4%
64.04$114.55 billion3.79 million4.83 millionAnalyst Report
Short Interest ↑
Analyst Revision
Johnson & Johnson stock logo
JNJ
Johnson & Johnson
$158.48
-0.3%
33.15$411.85 billion5.17 million7.74 millionAnalyst Report
Short Interest ↓
JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock logo
JPM
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
$139.50
+0.8%
10.30$407.66 billion10.47 million13.00 millionDividend Announcement
Analyst Report
Insider Selling
The Coca-Cola Company stock logo
KO
Coca-Cola
$62.80
-0.6%
27.54$271.58 billion13.58 million12.79 millionAnalyst Report
Insider Selling
McDonald's Co. stock logo
MCD
McDonald's
$294.05
+0.2%
31.55$214.67 billion2.41 million2.65 millionAnalyst Report
3M stock logo
MMM
3M
$99.64
+1.0%
10.33$54.97 billion2.91 million3.40 millionAnalyst Report
Merck & Co., Inc. stock logo
MRK
Merck & Co., Inc.
$114.00
-0.7%
22.27$289.27 billion6.43 million7.89 millionAnalyst Report
Analyst Revision
Pfizer Inc. stock logo
PFE
Pfizer
$36.48
-0.7%
7.18$205.94 billion27.27 million22.55 millionAnalyst Report
Analyst Revision
The Procter & Gamble Company stock logo
PG
Procter & Gamble
$152.53
-1.6%
26.57$359.51 billion6.98 million6.44 millionAnalyst Report
AT&T Inc. stock logo
T
AT&T
$16.55
-0.7%
N/A$118.32 billion38.86 million33.81 millionAnalyst Report
Analyst Revision
Verizon Communications Inc. stock logo
VZ
Verizon Communications
$36.13
-0.1%
7.03$151.74 billion20.19 million19.50 millionAnalyst Report
Walmart Inc. stock logo
WMT
Walmart
$151.47
+1.3%
35.39$408.57 billion15.57 million6.18 millionEarnings Report
Analyst Report
Analyst Revision
High Trading Volume
Exxon Mobil Co. stock logo
XOM
Exxon Mobil
$105.77
+0.9%
7.16$427.63 billion11.97 million16.41 millionEx-Dividend
Analyst Report
Investing in Blue-Chip Stocks

Blue-chip stocks tend to be among the most stable, best-performing stocks available to retail investors. These stocks allow investors to buy shares in stable companies that have a large market capitalization.

However, the “price” that investors pay for that stability is muted (but not nonexistent) organic growth. With that said, blue-chip stocks deserve a place in every portfolio. In this article, we’ll explain why there’s never a bad time for investors to buy the blue chips.

Should you buy growth stocks? Should you buy value stocks? This becomes a circular argument among many investors. And when investors turn to the financial press, they find that analysts and advisors will offer different opinions. The truth is that over the years, there’s a case to be made for both.

However, the downside to having a portfolio that is overweight growth stocks or overweight value stocks is that it is likely to underperform at different times. That’s the benefit of blue-chip stocks.

What are blue chip stocks? They offer the best attributes of growth and value stocks. And this combination provides a smoothing effect for portfolios. These stocks may not outperform pure growth stocks during robust bull markets, but they are also likely to be among your “less bad” performers during market corrections.

What is a blue chip company? One reason that drives the consistent performance of blue chip stocks is that many of them are in defensive industries. Defensive stocks are stocks of companies with a proven track record. These companies have products and services remain in demand no matter what is going on in the economy. An example of this would be Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). The company’s personal care products are in demand by consumers. Another example is Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) which is a favorite of no less an authority than Warren Buffett. 

Both companies are in extremely competitive sectors. However, these companies have loyal consumers that are willing to seek out their brands at the expense of their competitors. This gives these companies pricing power.

Is Amazon a blue chip stock? Learn more.

That pricing power leads directly into another shared trait of blue chip stocks. These companies have strong fundamentals that make them some of the highest value stocks. For example, many companies have pricing power means that allows them to pass along increased producer costs to the consumer. This means that the companies are more likely to retain their operating margins, which will typically translate to more stable earnings.

This pricing power also means these companies generate positive free cash flow (FCF) which they can use to reward shareholders. In many cases this is done in the form of a dividend. A dividend payment is a way for shareholders to “collect rent” on the shares they own. In addition to paying dividends, many of these companies will issue stock repurchase (stock buyback) programs which is another way to make the stock price more attractive and encourage other investors. Learn more about how to find blue chip dividend stocks.

In addition to receiving dividends, many blue chip stocks give investors the ability to reinvest their dividends. Reinvesting dividends is a solid strategy that can boost total return and deliver the benefit of compounding.

For example, if you own $1,000 shares of KO stock in June 2022, you would be in line to collect $5,520 in annual dividends. By reinvesting those dividends you would buy 22.66 new shares without having had to add any of your own money.

But there’s an even bigger benefit. Since Coca-Cola pays its dividend quarterly, you would buy 5.66 shares per quarter, compounding your dividend payment for the next quarter and so on and so on. Here’s an example not including fractional shares:

Quarter 1 = 1.38 x 1005/4 =346,72

Quarter 2 = 1.38 x 1010/4 = 348.45

Quarter 3 = 1.38 x 1015/4 = 350.17

Quarter 4 = 1.38 x 1020/4 = 351.90

And keep in mind that many of these companies increase their dividends every year. Rising dividends increase the benefits of compounding.

Consistent performance, solid balance sheets, and the opportunity to collect dividends (and benefit from the power of compounding) should be enough to convince you that blue chip stocks have a place in your portfolio. But if you’re still not convinced, here are a couple of additional reasons why blue chip stocks have a place in every portfolio.

First, investors should consider the benefit of diversification. Blue chip stocks are a way for growth investors to add a value component. They can also give value investors some exposure to growth. But diversification also means broadening your sector exposure. One way to do this is to find mutual funds and exchange traded funds that specialize in blue chip stocks.

Many investors rely on blue chip funds to provide sector diversification. However, quality blue chip stock can do some of that work as well. For example, a stock like British Petroleum (NYSE:BP) provides exposure to the oil and gas sector as well as the commodities market.

And speaking of ETFs, another benefit of blue chip stocks is that investors can find an ETF that specializes in blue chip stocks. This is a great option for investors who don’t want to purchase individual stocks or simply want a more set it and forget it option for this percentage of their portfolio.

Another way for investors to gain exposure to blue chip stocks is through an index fund that benchmarks the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). That’s because many Dow stocks have blue chip status.

Learn more about how to invest in blue chip stocks.

Are blue-chip stocks a good investment? Investors with a high risk tolerance may choose to invest in small-cap or mid cap companies. The stocks of these companies provide the opportunity for outsized future growth. However, these securities also add the possibility for an outsized risk to the downside.  

For those investors blue chip stocks can be a viable alternative. Having a few of these stocks in your portfolio, even if they occupy a very small percentage, can help offset the gut-churning volatility that can affect every investor’s actual risk tolerance.

Conversely, more conservative investors need not stick to fixed income, low growth assets. Buying blue chip stocks can offer the opportunity for capital gains that may, in many cases, outpace the rate of inflation which is a concern with fixed-income investments. And since many blue chip stocks pay dividends and rising dividends at that, investors have another avenue for collecting income from these high-quality stocks.



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