Stocks I Sold Out of That Became Multibaggers
I've been buying and selling stocks for about 8 years. In that time, I've mostly bought and held. Occasionally I will prune my stock portfolio. Sometimes the stocks I sold moved further down in price. On 3 occasions, I've sold a stock and it went on to achieve greater than 100% return. It's painful for me to review, but I think it's a healthy exercise to review your mistakes and try to not repeat them again.
- BROS, +128%
I decided I didn't want to invest in the "next Starbucks". Even though the business is growing healthily, I decided I prefer other opportunities. People seem passionate about their Dutch Bros drinks. I misread the stock and could have doubled my money if I bought instead of selling out in 2024 at $29.50 for a measly $7 profit.
- PBPB, +248%
One of my first stock picks was a good one in hindsight. However, my inexperience caused me to doubt the future of this sandwich shop chain. Checking back 5 years later, I was shocked to see how the stock had done. I sold the bottom at $2.89 in 2020. If I had stayed the course instead of bailing after 4 months, I would have tripled my money within 5 years. Instead I sold out at a ~$300 loss, flushing away what would have been a $1,700 gain today at the current price of $9.88.
- PLTR, +408%
I only held one share of Palantir for 6 months in 2021. I saw the stock constantly being discussed online and threw in $23. That share is now worth $124. Their dependency on government business contracts seemed a turn-off to me. I sold. I get that now they have the AI story as well. This is a promising company for sure, but I won't be purchasing shares at such a high valuation. At least my S&P 500 position gives me some exposure to Palantir's upside, so I caught the gains since they were added in September 2024.
Nobody Gets It Right Every Time
My read on these stocks was incorrect. I could have made money in them if I worked up more conviction. However, sometimes I just feel a stock is not the right type of business for me. I am not interested in what Palantir is doing. Also, there's no guarantees Dutch Bros will make it, but it seems they're executing at a high level currently. I'm happy for these businesses to succeed. Potbelly was not an obvious winner stock to me, but now I can see with the benefit of time, it actually beat the market. It appears they're doing something right. Those are the types of unexpected winners that stock pickers dream about.