Motley Fool's Low-Risk Stocks Revisited: Winners and Losers

The Motley Fool's David Gardner and Rick Munarriz revisited five low-risk stocks they picked in 2016 for the next year. These companies were Apple, Canadian National Railway, Disney, Ecolab, and Alphabet (Google).

Gardner used his 25-point risk rating system to select these stocks, which he believed would beat the market despite a bearish climate in 2016. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) returned 251.7% over this period.

The results were mixed. Apple had underperformed the S&P 500 in the previous years but then outpaced it, returning 346.2%. Disney also outperformed, with a return of 272.1%, and Alphabet (Google) returned 261.9%. However, Canadian National Railway's return was significantly lower at 94.4%, while Ecolab underperformed, with a return of -13.8%.