Investors and the media love stocks until they don’t.
The image above plots the one-month daily price-change volatility of Apple (AAPL), NVIDIA (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) over the last 10-years. The monthly values gyrate in different directions and at different magnitudes, but they all share a common theme:
Even the world’s strongest companies look like they’re riding a mechanical bull when viewed through the lens of short-term (1-month) price movements.
And yet… these are some of the best-performing companies of the last decade. Their returns prove it:
- Apple returned a blistering 1,000%,
- NDVA returned a staggering 21,000%,
- AMZN returned a stellar 600%+, and
- BRK.A returned nearly 300%.
This disconnect highlights one of the most underappreciated truths in investing:
Price volatility is not the same thing as business volatility. The former is noisy, emotional, and sometimes irrational. The latter is grounded in revenue, earnings, cash flow, and competitive durability, metrics that matter far more than a stock’s mood swings.
Apple
Look at Apple’s chart and you’d think the company was frequently in crisis. Daily and monthly price swings can be significant. Yet beneath that noise sits a company with some of the strongest financial foundations in corporate history. Apple continues to deliver consistent revenue growth driven by services, wearables, and an installed base that behaves more like a subscription ecosystem than a hardware business. EPS growth remains robust thanks to disciplined buybacks and enviable margins. Its balance sheet? Let’s just say Apple could buy several Fortune 500 companies with the cash it has lying around.
NVIDIA
NVIDIA’s chart looks like it drank five energy drinks before opening bell—big spikes, big dips, and lots of drama. But that’s what happens when a company grows revenue at triple-digit rates and becomes the backbone of the AI revolution. Earnings per share have exploded, margins have expanded, and the company sits on a balance sheet fortified by cash flow that would make most CFOs teary-eyed.
Short-term price swings simply reflect the market’s inability to keep up with the scale of NVIDIA’s growth story.
Amazon
Amazon’s stock also moves more than most investors would prefer, but the business itself continues to strengthen. AWS leads global cloud infrastructure, advertising revenue is growing faster than many pure-play ad platforms, and retail continues to become more efficient. Long-term revenue growth has averaged in the double digits for years, and EPS expansion is accelerating as high-margin segments mature.
I’m pretty confident people don’t miss looking for a parking spot at their local mall, standing in long lines, and driving around all day trying to find the store that has what they are looking for.
Berkshire Hathaway – Even Buffett Isn’t Immune
Finally, Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s fortress of a conglomerate shows noticeable volatility as well. And if the Oracle of Omaha can’t avoid market moodiness, why should anyone expect their own portfolio to? Berkshire’s balance sheet is one of the strongest in the world, cash levels remain towering, and operating earnings continue their long-term climb.
Buffett’s own philosophy is the perfect summary: “In the short run, the market is a voting machine; in the long run, it’s a weighing machine.”
The Bottom Line
Market volatility may make headlines, but business fundamentals build wealth. All four companies—Apple, NVIDIA, Amazon, and Berkshire, demonstrate that even elite performers endure temporary turbulence. A smart investor treats volatility like background noise.
-Paul R. Rossi, CFA