24 of the most profitable companies return an average of 573% in a decade By: MarketWatch October 10, 2014 at 06:00 AM EDT It might seem simple, but if you pick stocks based on earnings, you’ll be a winner, writes Phil van Doorn. Read More >> Related Stocks: AT&T Inc Altria Group Anika Therapeutics Approach Res. Inc Aqua America Brown-Forman CF Industries Holdings Capstead Mortgage Corp Delta Air Lines Edwards Lifesciences General Electric Gilead Sciences Gulfport Energy Corp Icon Energy Corp Ltc Properties MasterCard Oge Energy Corp Philip Morris International PulteGroup Renaissancere Holdings Ltd Royal Gold Inc Sigma-Aldrich The Priceline Group Union Pacific VeriSign Verizon Communications Visa