Friday, March 29, 2024
HometechnologyThe top performing stock in the Nasdaq

The top performing stock in the Nasdaq

As the Nasdaq moves closer to hitting the 5,000 benchmark, there is one company that every investor wishes they bought when the index touched its low in October 2002: SBA Communications.

The wireless communication tower company, which has a market cap of about $15 billion, makes money leasing antenna space to carriers such as AT&T and Verizon. Since 2002, it's up a whopping 53,000 percent, making it the top performing stock in the index over that period by a long shot.

Read More Nasdaq nears 5,000—does a tech bubble loom?

The next two biggest Nasdaq gainers over the past 13 years? Monster Beverage—up more than 48,000 percent—and Netflix—up nearly 18,000 percent.

In fact, regardless of the time—10 years, five, three or the past 12 months—SBA's stock easily beats the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.

What explains the excitement around a company that owns and operates wireless towers?

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Simply put, it's a play on the explosion of mobile devices. In 2002, the iPhone didn't even exist. Today, of course, there are countless consumers using smartphones and tablets. That means carriers need to lease more antenna space from SBA to meet growing demand for mobile data.

"Whether you're using an iPad, iPhone or Android device, the tower companies are needed by every single carrier at this point in the U.S., and abroad for that matter," said Michael Bowen, a senior research analyst at Pacific Crest Securities.

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