The top stocks with massive hockey stick returns (HSRs) are SRF, Tata Elxsi, Bajaj Finance, Astral and TVS Motor, as their compound annual growth rate (CAGR) returns lie between 38-53 per cent during the 2013-2023 period, according to Motilal Oswal's annual Wealth Creation Study.

Hockey stock returns refers to a sharp, sustained rise in the price of a stock, causing a hockey-stick formation of the price chart, translating into handsome returns for the stockholders.

Overall, there are 54 stocks which showcase such a phenomenon over the last decade.

Chemical conglomerate SRF has posted a 53 per cent price compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during 2013-23, while Tata Elxsi came second with a 51 percent rise in CAGR, and Bajaj Finance was placed third, with a 47 percent higher CAGR.

The shortlisted stocks under the hockey-stick pattern witnessed price appreciation as well as growth in economic profit.

Conventionally, earnings are associated with accounting profit, but Motilal Oswal’s study shows that economic profit is a superior metric to accounting profit.

The Motilal Oswal study suggests that a portfolio of companies all with economic profit has a high probability of beating the market.

The stocks under Hockey-stick strategy have been derived based on TEM, Trends, Endowment, Moves, which combine to drive up an enterprise's economic profit.

Bajaj Finance has topped the charts among large caps with a 48 per cent higher CAGR in the last decade.

The Adani Group saw a significant value erosion in the early part of 2023 due to the explosive report by Hindenburg Research, although it managed to recoup most of this in the past few months, and the group’s flagship company Adani Enterprises has given CAGR returns of 30 per cent between 2013-2023, the Motilal Oswal report said.