By Teresa Rivas

In a rally that has been powered by the Magnificent Seven and other exciting tech stocks, boring can still be beautiful.

Hopes for generative artificial intelligence and quantum computing are garnering a landslide of headlines, and it isn't all just hype. Profits at Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla are expected to grow faster than for the S&P 500. Margins are seen as holding up better as well, so it is easy to understand why investors are so interested.

That said, after big tech's bruising week, investors might be looking for less volatile options. As it turns out, they don't have to make a trade-off between stability and gains.

That is at the heart of the latest update from Torsten Sløk, the chief economist at Apollo Global Management. He says some big tech stocks are being outdone by what might be considered ho-hum names.

His first example is a matchup between Tractor Supply and Apple. The former has outperformed the latter since 2001, particularly in the past five years: Tractor Supply has well more than doubled, compared with Apple's 83% gain.

Next up is Domino's Pizza versus Alphabet, the parent of Google. Starting in 2007, Domino's has been the outperformer. Likewise, pitting Old Dominion Freight Line against Amazon shows Old Dominion as the better play, with a gain of roughly 56% rise over the past five years. Amazon is up by just over one-third in that period.

"The bottom line is that fancy tech stocks are getting so much attention, and investors spend a disproportionate amount of time discussing their growth strategies and new products," wrote Sløk in a research note Sunday. "But numerous other stocks and investment strategies can deliver better and more stable returns with fewer sleepless nights. Many people enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes with investing in the latest shiny toy, but for investors looking for steady and stable returns, boring is often a better strategy than fancy."

That holds true both in the stock market and in bonds. It makes sense that "may you live in interesting times" is understood as a curse, not a blessing.

Write to Teresa Rivas at teresa.rivas@barrons.com

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August 25, 2025 15:13 ET (19:13 GMT)

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