One of the best performing stocks this year is probably in your garage

Everyone I know is hunting quantum computing stocks and rocket companies.

Meanwhile, one of the best performing stocks in the market this year is a can of WD-40.

The company reported Q3 earnings Thursday night. Sales up 24% to $195 million. Operating income up 47%. EPS beat Wall Street by 49%. The stock jumped 14% and is up roughly 40% in 2026.

And here's the part I love. It's not even in the S&P 500. It's a $3 billion company sitting in 4 out of 5 American garages.

A year ago I wrote that their growth strategy was selling off the low-margin homecare brands and finding new commercial uses for the core product. Honest update on both. Nobody paid what they wanted for the homecare brands, so this quarter they quit trying to sell them. But the second half is working better than I expected. The Specialist line for pros grew 22% this quarter.

This is what a great business looks like. No factories, they outsource all manufacturing and own the brand and the secret formula, which like Coke, is not even patented.

The business is a beast too:

• Gross margins of 56.6% last quarter.

• Returns on invested capital around 26%.

• A dividend paid 34 straight years.

Now the honest part. Management said themselves that customers bought early ahead of price increases, pulling demand from next quarter into this one. And the stock trades at 41 times earnings while peers trade at 19. Wonderful business. Demanding price - I would need to do a good bit of research to make sure I'm not overpaying.

But that's exactly the lesson. You don't find companies like this by chasing whatever's flying. You find them by looking around your world! The opportunity was on your shelf the whole time. The work is learning to see it.