Prediction: These Will Be 5 of the Biggest Stocks by 2040

Whether you realize it or not, the stock market is a dynamic investment vehicle that's constantly evolving. Although the benchmark S&P 500 tends to head higher over long periods of time, the stocks primarily responsible for pushing the widely followed index to new heights change regularly.

As an example, nine of the 10 largest stocks by market cap in 2004 are no longer in the top 10 as of today. In fact, insurer AIG now sits around No. 250 in the market cap rankings.

While a number of today's largest publicly traded companies have a good shot at remaining near the top of the leaderboard in terms of market cap -- e.g., Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet -- many smaller companies could emerge as some of the market's biggest stocks within two decades.

Source Fool.com