saw a 0.5% decline. In those 10 years, it has grown its earnings per share from $1.88 to $5.39 – a 187% increase. And they were up every year. Over the past 12 months, Hershey generated record sales of $7.8 billion. It grew its gross profits to $3.5 billion. And its net profit margins are at an all-time high of 15%. Hershey also pays a more than 2% dividend that has grown over the last five years at an average of 8.5%. And the company is trading at a reasonable price. In 2018, Hershey’s sales have grown to $7.8 billion, but capital investments remain incredibly small – just over 4% of sales. And with FCF of more than $1.2 billion, Hershey had plenty of resources to return capital to investors. In 2018, shareholder dividends totaled $563 million, or 17% of gross profits. Moreover, Hershey is also returning capital through repurchasing its own shares and doing it consistently. As long-term investors, one of the biggest reasons we like a company like Hershey is that it will be around when we retire. And it will be much bigger than today. Forever Stock No. 3 STARBUCKS (NASDAQ: SBUX) Starbucks needs little introduction to most Americans. The ubiquitous chain of coffeeshops is one of the great success stories in American business over the past 50 years.
MasterCard combined. Its operating margins are attractive at more than 20%. And it generates nearly $8 billion of free cash flow (“FCF”) each year. These are all things we like to see in a company that is built to weather a market storm. Forever Stock No. 2 HERSHEY (NYSE: HSY) We like chocolate and candy in good times and bad. We continue to like Hershey today as well. It’s a world-class business that isn’t much affected by the “slowing global growth” story that’s popular today. Its stock trades at a reasonable price. And it has been incredibly strong in the face of recent market volatility. Hershey is a roughly $25 billion giant in the sweets market. The company makes the iconic chocolate “Kisses.” And it sells sweets under about 80 other brand names, including Reese’s, Twizzlers, Milk Duds, Jolly Rancher, and Whoppers. It also makes savory snacks like Skinny Pop popcorn and Krave beef jerky. In 2018, 84% of Hershey’s business was in the U.S., so slowdowns in other countries won’t play much of a role in its results. And because Hershey sells food products that folks buy in good times and bad – chocolate sales may even go up in bad times – it’s relatively resistant to an economic downturn in the U.S. Over the past 10 years, Hershey has grown its sales every year but one – 2015, in which it
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