Backtest · 2012 cohort
The widest moats of 2012, scored with only what was filed then.
Scored as of 2012-12-31 from the 10-Ks on file at that date — no later restatements, no hindsight. 742 companies scored; the table lists the 100 widest by as-of moat composite. The forward returns below were joined afterward: entry is the first market close on or after Jan 1, 2013.
| # | Company | Moat | As-of score | 1-yr return | 3-yr return | 5-yr return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | INTUIT INC.INTUfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 99.2 | 24% | 57% | 171% |
| 2 | GILEAD SCIENCES, INC.GILDfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 99.1 | 100% | 164% | 110% |
| 3 | S&P Global Inc.SPGIfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 98.4 | 42% | 78% | 224% |
| 4 | MYRIAD GENETICS, INC.MYGNfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 97.9 | −22% | 55% | 26% |
| 5 | ResMed Inc.RMDfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 97.7 | 11% | 30% | 122% |
| 6 | HERBALIFE LTD.HLFfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 97.6 | 154% | 76% | 121% |
| 7 | Fossil Group, Inc.FOSLfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 97.4 | 26% | −64% | −91% |
| 8 | MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES, INC.MANHfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 96.9 | 87% | 310% | 219% |
| 9 | Tapestry, Inc.TPRfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 96.7 | 4% | −33% | −3% |
| 10 | CUMBERLAND PHARMACEUTICALS INCCPIXfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 96.6 | 20% | 18% | 65% |
| 11 | Estee Lauder Companies IncELfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 96.0 | 22% | 48% | 123% |
| 12 | Medifast, Inc.MEDfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 95.8 | −1% | 10% | 195% |
| 13 | Oracle CorporationORCLfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 95.7 | 10% | 7% | 42% |
| 14 | Cirrus Logic, Inc.CRUSfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 95.5 | −33% | −2% | 78% |
| 15 | RALPH LAUREN CORPORATIONRLfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 95.4 | 16% | −24% | −25% |
| 16 | THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY, INC.SAMfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 95.1 | 59% | 43% | 36% |
| 17 | NU SKIN ENTERPRISES, INC.NUSfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 95.1 | 278% | 10% | 111% |
| 18 | OneSpan Inc.OSPNfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 94.8 | −7% | 105% | 73% |
| 19 | Intuitive Surgical, Inc.ISRGfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 94.4 | −24% | 10% | 126% |
| 20 | C.H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE, INC.CHRWfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 94.4 | −6% | 5% | 60% |
| 21 | LIVEPERSON, INC.LPSNfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 94.2 | 7% | −51% | −16% |
| 22 | HASBRO, INC.HASfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 94.0 | 56% | 103% | 191% |
| 23 | TERADATA CORP /DE/TDCfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 93.8 | −30% | −59% | −40% |
| 24 | Starbucks CorporationSBUXfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 93.8 | 42% | 121% | 126% |
| 25 | ZIFF DAVIS, INC.ZDfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 93.8 | 60% | 169% | 161% |
| 26 | ADVANCE AUTO PARTS, INC.AAPfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 93.8 | 52% | 111% | 48% |
| 27 | TRIPADVISOR, INC.TRIPfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 93.8 | 82% | 88% | −21% |
| 28 | IDEXX LABORATORIES INC /DEIDXXfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 93.7 | 12% | 51% | 236% |
| 29 | Gartner, Inc.ITfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 93.2 | 47% | 86% | 163% |
| 30 | USANA HEALTH SCIENCES, INC.USNAfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 93.1 | 134% | 287% | 356% |
| 31 | F5, INC.FFIVfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 93.1 | −12% | −4% | 31% |
| 32 | PRICE T ROWE GROUP INCTROWfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 93.1 | 26% | 15% | 79% |
| 33 | STRYKER CORPSYKfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 92.8 | 36% | 69% | 204% |
| 34 | ADTRAN Holdings, Inc.ADTNfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 92.6 | 33% | −10% | 9% |
| 35 | Monster Beverage CorpMNSTfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 92.4 | 23% | 166% | 247% |
| 36 | SLEEP NUMBER CORPORATIONSNBRQfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 92.3 | — | — | — |
| 37 | COLGATE-PALMOLIVE COMPANYCLfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 92.2 | 24% | 30% | 58% |
| 38 | INTERPARFUMS, INC.IPARfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 91.8 | 79% | 23% | 142% |
| 39 | TANDY LEATHER FACTORY, INCTLFfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 91.7 | 77% | 34% | 41% |
| 40 | lululemon athletica inc.LULUfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 91.5 | −21% | −25% | 8% |
| 41 | VERA BRADLEY, INC.VRAfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 91.5 | 0% | −33% | −48% |
| 42 | MICROSOFT CORPORATIONMSFTfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 91.3 | 39% | 116% | 255% |
| 43 | THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY INCORPORATEDCAKEfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 90.9 | 46% | 46% | 60% |
| 44 | NORDSON CORPORATIONNDSNfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 90.8 | 14% | 0% | 138% |
| 45 | VERU INC.VERUfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 90.5 | 18% | −79% | −79% |
| 46 | BIO-TECHNE CorpTECHfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 90.4 | 38% | 33% | 103% |
| 47 | COCA COLA COKOfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 90.3 | 11% | 23% | 42% |
| 48 | BIOGEN INC.BIIBfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 90.0 | 87% | 96% | 123% |
| 49 | SPOK HOLDINGS, INC.SPOKfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 90.0 | 25% | 57% | 56% |
| 50 | MATTEL INC /DE/MATfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 89.9 | 33% | −14% | −45% |
| 51 | JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.WLYfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 89.9 | 38% | 18% | 87% |
| 52 | Gen Digital Inc.GENfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 89.8 | 23% | 15% | 103% |
| 53 | SPS COMMERCE, INC.SPSCfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 89.7 | 64% | 72% | 24% |
| 54 | UNDER ARMOUR, INC.UAAfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 89.7 | 80% | 230% | 24% |
| 55 | MSC INDUSTRIAL DIRECT CO., INC.MSMfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 89.2 | 6% | −19% | 45% |
| 56 | FASTENAL COFASTfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 89.1 | −1% | −10% | 26% |
| 57 | DECKERS OUTDOOR CORPDECKfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 89.0 | 118% | 23% | 109% |
| 58 | DOLLAR TREE, INC.DLTRfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 88.6 | 41% | 98% | 172% |
| 59 | SOMNIGROUP INTERNATIONAL INC.SGIfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 88.6 | 67% | 112% | 98% |
| 60 | FORTINET, INC.FTNTfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 88.3 | −10% | 43% | 109% |
| 61 | Cimpress plcCMPRfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 88.1 | 61% | 127% | 253% |
| 62 | EZCORP, INC.EZPWfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 87.8 | −43% | −76% | −40% |
| 63 | BUCKLE, INCBKEfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 87.7 | 17% | −23% | −27% |
| 64 | INTEL CORPINTCfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 87.3 | 25% | 76% | 157% |
| 65 | WOLVERINE WORLD WIDE, INC.WWWfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 87.2 | 67% | −16% | 68% |
| 66 | AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Afrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 86.9 | 36% | 40% | 137% |
| 67 | BLOOMIA HOLDINGS, INC.TULPfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 86.6 | — | — | — |
| 68 | Johnson & JohnsonJNJfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 86.5 | 32% | 55% | 126% |
| 69 | WILLIAMS-SONOMA, INC.WSMfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 86.4 | 32% | 34% | 31% |
| 70 | Lattice Semiconductor CorpLSCCfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 86.4 | 34% | 55% | 46% |
| 71 | eBay Inc.EBAYfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 86.4 | 1% | 17% | 69% |
| 72 | COPART, INC.CPRTfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 86.2 | 20% | 24% | 186% |
| 73 | QUALCOMM INC/DEQCOMfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 86.0 | 15% | −17% | 15% |
| 74 | NetApp, Inc.NTAPfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 85.2 | 19% | −21% | 77% |
| 75 | Analog Devices, Inc.ADIfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 85.1 | 15% | 35% | 135% |
| 76 | JACK HENRY & ASSOCIATES, INC.JKHYfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 85.1 | 45% | 96% | 204% |
| 77 | Booking Holdings Inc.BKNGfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 85.0 | 79% | 95% | 180% |
| 78 | SEMTECH CORPSMTCfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 83.8 | −16% | −36% | 17% |
| 79 | BECTON DICKINSON & COBDXfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 83.7 | 40% | 97% | 199% |
| 80 | SOUTHERN COPPER CORPORATIONSCCOfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 83.6 | −24% | −31% | 34% |
| 81 | DELUXE CORPDLXfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 83.5 | 59% | 72% | 160% |
| 82 | DONALDSON COMPANY, INC.DCIfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 83.1 | 28% | −13% | 56% |
| 83 | FLOWSERVE CORPFLSfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 83.1 | 54% | −14% | −11% |
| 84 | AUTOZONE INCAZOfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 83.0 | 33% | 106% | 106% |
| 85 | Carter's, Inc.CRIfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 83.0 | 29% | 69% | 120% |
| 86 | ZIMMER BIOMET HOLDINGS, INC.ZBHfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 82.8 | 38% | 54% | 91% |
| 87 | WD-40 COMPANYWDFCfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 82.6 | 57% | 110% | 165% |
| 88 | Neogen CorporationNEOGfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 82.6 | 46% | 80% | 164% |
| 89 | HALLIBURTON COMPANYHALfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 82.2 | 42% | 1% | 48% |
| 90 | WW INTERNATIONAL, INC.WWfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 82.2 | −39% | −59% | −10% |
| 91 | UTAH MEDICAL PRODUCTS INCUTMDfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 82.2 | 38% | 62% | 126% |
| 92 | G III APPAREL GROUP LTD /DE/GIIIfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 82.2 | 111% | 167% | 124% |
| 93 | Apple Inc.AAPLfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 81.9 | 3% | 43% | 143% |
| 94 | Balchem CorpBCPCfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 81.7 | 53% | 57% | 123% |
| 95 | 3M COMPANYMMMfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 81.7 | 49% | 67% | 181% |
| 96 | AUTODESK, INC.ADSKfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 81.6 | 33% | 63% | 190% |
| 97 | CHURCH & DWIGHT CO., INC.CHDfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 81.4 | 22% | 61% | 97% |
| 98 | GENTEX CORPORATIONGNTXfrom FY2011 10-K | Wide moat | 81.4 | 73% | 76% | 144% |
| 99 | AMERICAN EAGLE OUTFITTERS INCAEOfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 81.4 | −25% | −14% | 11% |
| 100 | GAP, INCGAPfrom FY2012 10-K | Wide moat | 81.1 | 25% | −13% | 24% |
| Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, total return)benchmark · total return (same basis) | — | — | 26% | 40% | 112% | |
| S&P 500 (price return)benchmark · price return | — | — | 25% | 38% | 84% |
Two benchmarks, and we’re careful about the basis. Company returns are total returns (dividends reinvested). Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, total return) is on the same total-return basis — the fair, like-for-like comparison (Berkshire pays no dividend, so its dividend-adjusted and price series coincide). The S&P 500 (price return) is a price index that excludes dividends and so understates the market by roughly its dividend yield — shown for reference, not as a fair bar. A “—” is an unfinished forward window or a name without joined returns, never a zero. Where a name stopped trading mid-window it reports null with a note, never a guessed return.
The caveats, in the engine’s own words
- Point-in-time reconstruction: each score uses only SEC filings on file by Dec 31 of the cohort year; restatements filed later are ignored, and filers with December fiscal year-ends are scored off the prior fiscal year (their 10-K arrives the following spring).
- Survivorship bias: unless delisted companies were ingested explicitly by CIK, the cohort is drawn from companies still filing with the SEC today — names that failed or delisted since are missing, which flatters any forward-looking comparison. Companies whose filings had already gone stale at the cutoff are computed but excluded from the ranking (the stale count). The same caveat extends to returns: a name that stopped trading mid-window reports null with a note, never a guessed return through its delisting. Price histories are keyed by each company's ticker symbol as of today; a symbol that changed hands between issuers during a window can misattribute price history.
- Scores are business-quality only: no prices feed them, so valuation, margin of safety, and price-dependent verdicts are absent. Forward returns are a separate join of market data made after scoring and never influence any score.
- Forward returns start strictly after the information cutoff: entry is the first trading close on or after Jan 1 of the year following the cohort year, and each 1y/3y/5y window runs anchor-to-anchor to the first trading close of the corresponding later year. Windows that have not fully elapsed are null — never annualized or extrapolated from a partial period.
- Return basis honesty: company returns are total returns (split-adjusted closes with dividends reinvested at the ex-date); the S&P 500 benchmark is the ^GSPC price index, which excludes dividends and therefore understates the index by roughly its dividend yield in any comparison. A second benchmark, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), is computed on the SAME total-return basis as the companies — Berkshire pays no dividend, so its dividend-adjusted series equals its price series, and the same code path is used so the comparison is strictly like-for-like. Each record labels its own returnBasis.
- Educational, not investment advice. Hindsight makes every backtest look wiser than anyone could have been at the time.