Motley Fool Stock Advisor vs Rule Breakers, Performance Review from 2016 to 2021
In 1994 David and Tom Gardner started The Motley Fool. In 2002 and 2004 they started Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers their two most popular stock picking services. Both services are geared towards growth and share the same long-term investment outlook but they have some key differences that will influence which service may be a better fit for you and your investment goals.
Motley Fool Rule Breakers
Rule Breakers is run by David Gardner and has been providing monthly stock recommendations since 2004, let’s take a closer look at some of the services best picks, recent picks and to-date performance.
A $500 investment in each of these 5 Rule Breakers picks is worth $244,576 today.
| Rule Breakers Stock Picks (2004 to 2023) | Return* | Annualized Return |
| Electric Car Company | 11,317% | 48% |
| E-commerce Company | 11,007% | 37% |
| Robotic Surgery Company | 6,222% | 25% |
| Fast Casual Company | 3,547% | 26% |
| Salesforce Company | 3,515% | 27% |
Click Here to See the Latest Rule Breakers Picks (Dec 8th, 2023)
Recent Performance
We know that Rule Breakers has had some huge all-time picks, but how have their more recent picks performed? Let’s take a closer look and find out.
Top Rule Breakers Picks From 2016 to 2022
These are the best stock picks from the Rule Breakers service from 2016 to 2022. The service releases two new stock picks per month.
| Rule Breakers Stock Picks (2016 to 2023) | Return* | Annualized Return |
| E-commerce Company | 3,284% | 57% |
| Advertising Tech Company | 1,892% | 55% |
| Cloud Database Company | 1,103% | 54% |
| Semiconductor Company | 646% | 30% |
| Cloud Software Company | 617% | 73% |
Q4 2019 – Rule Breakers Stock Picks
The Q4 2019 Rule Breakers picks have beat the market by 4.2X with an average return of 227% compared to 55% for the S&P 500.
| Rule Breakers Stock Picks (2019 to 2019) | Return* | Annualized Return |
| Cloud Monitoring Company | 252% | 36% |
| Online Marketplace Company | 90% | 17% |
| Fitness Equipment Company. | 25% | 6% |
| Medical Device Company | 3% | 1% |
| Fitness Company | -81% | -34% |
Latest Rule Breakers Picks
The latest Rule Breakers pick was released on November 28th.
| Latest Rule Breakers Stock Picks 2022 | Rec Date | Return |
| Fintech Company | 2023-11-28 | 0.62% |
| Digital Payments Company | 2023-11-14 | -3.91% |
| Restaurant Company | 2023-10-24 | 7.29% |
| Healthcare Tech Company | 2023-10-10 | -18.20% |
Next Rule Breakers Pick
The next Rule Breakers pick will be released on December 14th.
| Rule Breakers Release Schedule | Release Date |
| New Stock Pick | Nov 30, 2023 |
| 5 Best Buys Now | Dec 7, 2023 |
| New Stock Pick | Dec 14, 2023 |
| 5 Best Buys Now | Dec 21, 2023 |
Click Here to See the Latest Rule Breakers Picks (Dec 8th, 2023)
Stock Advisor is best suited for:
- New investors looking to build a new portoflio
- Investors looking for whole market, moderate to high growth company's, not entirely focused on tech.
- Investors looking for long-term returns.
- Investors looking to really grow in their investing knowledge and experience.
Rule Breakers is best suited for:
- Investors with established portfolios.
- Those looking for a concentration company's which are first-movers or innovators.
- Those who can stomach market volatlity.
- Those with 5 to 15 year investing horizon.
What You Can Expect:
Both services have the same general structure for how they are run and what they provide.
- 2 new stock recommendations per month along with a research reporting and video where the team's analysts discuss the picks and sometimes answer questions. Typically each release provide current market guidance providing context for investing during the current market conditions.
- 10 timely stock recommendations per month (only 5 for Rule Breakers). The timely stocks were previously called "Best Buy Now" stocks are simply the best stocks from the current portfolio of recommendations to invest in right now.
- This can be helpful to new members of the service who may have missed a big recommendation from 2 months ago. That big recommendation could get re-recommended as a timely stock giving you a 2nd chance at building out a position in it.
- 10 foundational stocks, which are often updated quarterly. These stock recommendations are to help build a diverified portoflio.
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Cost: Stock Advisor vs Rule Breakers
The normal price for Stock Advisor is $199/year and comes with a 30 day membership-fee-back guarantee. New members can currently get the service for just $89*.
The normal price for Rule Breakers is $299/year and also comes with the 30 day membership-fee-back guarantee.
Winner on Cost: Stock Advisor
Stock Advisor is cheaper than Rule Breakers but both services are still affordable considering other services charge $50-100 per month. I find the cost of either service to be well justified considering the value they provide, particularly for those who take advantage of all the content they provide.
Performance: Rule Breakers vs Stock Advisor
What everyone wants to know is which service has the best track record of performance.
We analyzed every recommendation from each service from 2016 through 2021 and here is what we found.
Both services handily out-performed the market but Rule Breaker's results particularly at the 4 year return mark handily even out-peformed Stock Advisor.
New Recommendations Performance
| New Recommendations - 2016 to 2021 | Stock Advisor | Rule Breakers | Winner |
| 1 Year | 42.53% | 42.48% | Tie |
| 2 Years | 100.13% | 113.27% | Rule Breakers by 13% |
| 3 Years | 153.44% | 152.91% | Tie |
| 4 Years | 208.65% | 342.65% | Rule Breakers by 64% |
| Blended Average | 126.19% | 162.83% | Rule Breakers by 29% |
- For performance of new stock recommendaitons, Rule Breakers beat Stock Advisor for 2-year returns by 13% and 4-year reuturns by 64%.
- Both handily out-performing the S&P 500.
- The Winner is: Rule Breakers
Foundational Stocks Performance
| Foundational Stocks - 2016 to 2021 | Stock Advisor | Rule Breakers | Winner |
| 1 Year | 33.51% | 32.06% | Stock Advisor by 5% |
| 2 Years | 78.12% | 60.28% | Stock Advisor by 30% |
| 3 Years | 102.04% | 107.44% | Rule Breakers by 5% |
| 4 Years | 114.30% | 237.32% | Rule Breakers by 108% |
| Blended Average | 81.99% | 109.28% | Rule Breakers by 33% |
- For performance of foundational stocks, Rule Breaker's won the 3 and 4 year periods by 5% and 108% respectively.
- In 1 and 2 year returns Stock Advisors 5% and 30% out-performance just wasn't enough to outshine Rule Breakers.
- The Winner is: Rule Breakers
Best Buy Recommendations Performance
| Best Buys - 2016 to 2021 | Stock Advisor | Rule Breakers | Winner |
| 1 Year | 40.31% | 45.13% | Rule Breakers by 12% |
| 2 Years | 82.85% | 85.72% | Rule Breakers by 3% |
| 3 Years | 98.04% | 104.47% | Rule Breakers by 7% |
| 4 Years | 119.69% | 155.74% | Rule Breakers by 30% |
| Blended Average | 85.22% | 97.77% | Rule Breakers by 15% |
- For performance of "Best Buy" or timely recommendations, Rule Breaker's won in a clean sweep for all 4 years. Winning by an average of 15%
- The Winner is: Rule Breakers
Conclusion About Performance
Between the two services, Rule Breakers produced better returns through all periods. This is not to say that Stock Advisor didn't perform well, because it performed exceptionally well.
During this period from 2016 through 2021, both services have done exceptionally well identifying high-growth company's that deliver great results for share holders.
It's hard to go wrong with either service, really the best option is to use both as they have proven in this comparison to deliver strong market-beating results.
Conclusion
If you are looking for quality high-growth investment ideas and research both Stock Advisor and Rule Breakers fit the bill, providing great value for the money.
The historical performance of their picks speak for themselves. They have had a knack for finding great investment opportunities.
Both services are complementary to each other, so using both side-by-side is a good way to go. However, for new investors who are just getting started investing and want to test the waters with a paid service Stock Advisor is probably the best place to start.
Their picks come from a more whole market type of perspective and generally are less volatile than the Rule Breakers picks.
Both services provide great articles and videos and webcasting content to really help equip you with great knowledge about the current market, trends and Motley Fool recommendations.
We think either service is worth the subscription price even without any stock recommendations. The additional resources are really that good, for those who actually are eager to learn and become a smarter investor.
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Did you know that...
- Studies have shown that, over time, dollar-cost averaging can lead to acquiring more shares at a lower average cost per share?
- A 'wash sale' involves selling a security at a loss and then repurchasing the same or a substantially similar security shortly after, which can have tax implications?
- An investor's time horizon is crucial in determining their investment strategy, with longer horizons typically allowing for greater risk-taking?
- Risk tolerance is an investor's ability and willingness to endure market volatility in pursuit of their financial goals?
- Dollar-cost averaging is not just for stocks or mutual funds, but can also be applied to other asset classes like bonds or even commodities?
Quotes of the Day:
- "The most important thing in investing is to know what you're doing." - David Tepper
- "The best way to make money in the stock market is to invest in companies that have a strong growth potential." - T. Boone Pickens
- "The stock market is a voting machine in the short term and a weighing machine in the long term." - David Tepper
- "The stock market is a great place to make money, but it's also a great place to lose money if you don't have a plan." - Julian Robertson
- "The most important thing in investing is not what you buy, but when you buy it." - Philip Fisher
*Disclaimer: Unless noted otherwise all returns are as of Dec 8, 2023. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Individual investment results may vary. All investing involves risk of loss.
We provide general information, not investment advice. Some of the links on this page are affiliate links in which we receive a commission when a purchase is made.
$89 promotional price for new members only. $110 discount based on current list price of Stock Advisor of $199/year. Membership will renew annually at the then current list price.
$99 promotional price for new Rule Breakers members. $200 discount based on current list price for Rule Breakers of $299. Membership will renew annually at the then current list price.