High yield, covered
Yields of 4% or more that free cash flow covers, from companies outside the distress zone.
A high yield is only worth having if it is paid again next year. Free cash flow covering the dividend, earnings covering it too, and an Altman Z-score above the distress line remove most yields that are high because the price has collapsed.
$10,000 in this list since 2016
Rebuilt every month from the data public at the time
- Per year
- +12.0%
- All stocks +9.4%, S&P 500 +13.8%
- Worst fall from a peak
- -39%
- All stocks -35%
- Months ahead of all stocks
- 48%
- 120 months tested
- Stocks held, on average
- 18
- Equal weights
- Past 12 months
- +27.8%
- All stocks +4.1%, S&P 500 +12.4%
- Volatility, per year
- 22%
- All stocks 22%
- Sharpe ratio
- 0.51
- All stocks 0.40; return over cash per unit of volatility
- Replaced each month
- 28%
- Share of the list that changes at a rebalance
Live since Oct 19, 2026. Holding the list as published, rebought at each month end: +3.2% against +2.1% for all stocks and +0.7% for the S&P 500, to Oct 30, 2026. Too short a period to read much into.
- High yield, covered
- All US stocks, equal weight
- S&P 500 (price only)
Year by year
| Portfolio | 2016from Oct 31 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026to Oct 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This list | +24% | +8% | -5% | +16% | +5% | +26% | +3% | +24% | +0% | +3% | +20% |
| All US stocks | +12% | +19% |
18 stocks on the list today
As of the close on Oct 30, 2026; 2 joined and 1 left since Oct 29, 2026
| # | Company | Share price | 1D | Market cap | Yield | Payout ratio | FCF payout | Altman Z | Debt/equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $231.28 | +0.48% | $134B | 6.0% | 69.7% | 51.1% | 1.98 | – | |
| 2 |
Left the list at the latest update
More income ideas
- Dividend growersTen or more straight years of higher dividends, still paid comfortably out of earnings.
- Yields that look too goodYields of 10% or more. Most are warnings, not opportunities.
- Buyback cannibalsCompanies that shrank their share count by 3% or more in a year while generating free cash.
- Shareholder yieldDividends plus buybacks worth 6% or more of the market value each year, without heavy debt.
A list produced by rules, not a recommendation. Past results in the backtest don't predict future returns. How the backtests work.