Historical review · Original article: May 21, 2023 · Reviewed October 3, 2026
A promising industry is a starting point for research. It does not establish which stock is attractively priced—or deserves a place in your portfolio.
This page revisits InvestPips’ 2023 stock list. It preserves the companies originally discussed, corrects identification errors and explains what was missing from the investment case. The names below are a record of that article, not a current recommendation or a ranking of 2023’s best performers.
Amazon appeared in two groups. These were broad editorial themes, not a defined portfolio.
The article specified no purchase dates, weights, exit rules or benchmark.
What the 2023 article actually covered
The original article grouped companies around technology, healthcare, renewable energy, online retail, financial services and streaming. These categories describe its narrative; they are not formal sector classifications or evidence that each business faces the same risks. Company names and symbols below reflect the historical list, with the Block name corrected.
Scroll across the table to see all columns.
| Original theme | Companies and historical symbols | A question the theme leaves unanswered |
|---|---|---|
| Technology | Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) | How much expected growth is already reflected in the purchase price? |
| Healthcare | Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Pfizer (PFE), Merck (MRK) | Which products, patent expirations and development outcomes matter most? |
| Renewable energy | NextEra Energy (NEE), Enphase Energy (ENPH), First Solar (FSLR) | How do financing, customer demand and policy affect each business differently? |
| E-commerce and retail | Amazon (AMZN), Shopify (SHOP), Walmart (WMT) | Does sales growth translate into cash after operating and investment costs? |
| Financial services | JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Visa (V), Block (then SQ), PayPal (PYPL) | Is the business earning from lending, a payment network or another service? |
| Streaming and entertainment | Netflix (NFLX), Walt Disney (DIS), Spotify (SPOT) | Can pricing and customer retention support the cost of content and distribution? |
A company appearing twice does not add another independent holding. More generally, several different company names can still expose a portfolio to similar customers, financing conditions or growth expectations. Count the underlying exposures as well as the number of symbols.
Two identification errors worth correcting
Visa is not a bank
The original text placed Visa alongside “leading banks.” Visa describes its role as a payments technology network and distinguishes itself from banks that issue cards and extend credit. A banking investment case cannot simply be carried across to a network business.
Square was already Block
The parent company’s legal name changed to Block in December 2021, as documented in its December 10, 2021 SEC filing. Calling it “Square Inc.” in a 2023 company list was outdated. SQ is retained here only as the symbol used in the historical article.
Before using any older watchlist, match the issuer, share class, exchange and date to current filings. A familiar brand name or remembered ticker is not enough to establish that you are researching the intended security.
Turn a theme into a research question
For U.S. reporting companies, Investor.gov’s guide to reading a 10-K points readers to the business description, risk factors, management discussion and audited financial statements. Use those disclosures to test a claim, rather than relying on a short company summary.
- Describe how the company earns money. Identify the main customers, products and costs. Separate a popular industry story from the part of that story the company can actually monetize.
- Check the funding requirements. Read the cash-flow statement and debt disclosures. Ask what happens if growth takes longer or requires more investment than the optimistic case assumes.
- Write down the valuation assumptions. A useful comparison states the price date, metric, forecast period and reason the comparison fits. Revenue growth alone cannot answer whether a share is expensive.
- Define what would change your view. Name a business result or balance-sheet development that would weaken the thesis. Record that condition before seeing the next result.
- Check the portfolio overlap. Look through funds you already hold as well as individual stocks. Adding a familiar company may increase an exposure you already have.
A useful research note is specific
Replace “this sector will grow” with a dated question: “What operating result would justify the assumptions in this valuation?” Record the source and what remains uncertain. This is a research process, not a claim that the listed companies pass it.
Why this review does not declare winners
The original list was published during 2023, not before the year began. Comparing its names from January 1 would therefore assign the article information it had not yet published. A fair historical evaluation would first specify an executable start date, allocations, corporate-action adjustments, dividend treatment, costs and a comparison benchmark.
Those rules were absent. Choosing them now after seeing the outcome would create a new retrospective exercise, not recover an original track record. We have not calculated returns for this list and do not describe it as a successful stock-picking strategy.
Start with the portfolio decision
Build a portfolio around your goals · Compare investment building blocks · Develop a research process
Sources and method
Reviewed October 3, 2026 against the original InvestPips article, the linked Block filing, Visa company description and Investor.gov filing guide. The original list contains 20 company mentions and 19 distinct companies because Amazon appears twice. The research questions are InvestPips’ editorial framework; no current price, valuation screen or portfolio backtest is presented.
Company names are retained to make the historical record understandable. Advertising is separate from this review. Read our editorial and advertising standards.
What changed in this update
Replaced the unsupported “best stocks” framing and unnamed expert endorsements with an explicit historical review. Removed the inaccurate suggestion that 2023 was still approaching, corrected Visa’s classification and Block’s name, and explained the missing performance methodology. The original URL and publication date are preserved.
Educational information, not personalized investment advice. Historical inclusion is not an endorsement to buy, sell or hold any security.