Winner of My Stock-Picking Derby Sold Her Top Pick Too Soon
Posted: May 12, 2026
May 11, 2026 — (Maple Hill Syndicate) – A nurse from North Carolina beat 41 other contestants to take first place in my annual stock-picking contest, Dorfman’s Three-Stock Derby.
Heather Fisher, a nurse in Chapel Hill, won primarily because of a huge gain in Aehr Test Systems (AEHR). It rose 849%, helping her achieve an average return of 287% on her three picks.
Fisher is an active investor. She owns AEHR, and also owns her other two picks – SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), which was up 40% during the contest period, and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), which declined 27%.
Unfortunately for Fisher, she sold most of her Aehr shares before the stock started its dramatic climb. You can imagine her chagrin, and if you’re an experienced investor, you’ve probably experienced something similar at some point.
Based in Fremont, California, Aehr makes test systems for the semiconductor industry. It specializes in testing expensive chips used for artificial-intelligence applications, subjecting them to long runs at full power under extreme temperatures.
Fisher says she has reduced her trading in recent months, “not knowing what will happen with oil and not knowing what will happen with the war.”
Silver
Ronald Hanzlicek, a retiree from Papillion, Nebraska, grabbed second place with a 179% return on his three picks.
His most successful choice was Great Plain Inc. (GPRE), an agribusiness company that returned 318%. The company, with headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, manufactures ethanol and ethanol byproducts. It also does grain handling and storage, commodity marketing and commodity trading.
Hanzlicek also scored big with ImmunityBio Inc. (IBRX), a biotechnology company in San Diego, California that is working on therapies to strengthen people’s immune systems and make them less susceptible to cancer and infection diseases.
His third pick, Castle Biosciences (CSTL), also beat the market averages. I couldn’t reach Hanzlicek for an interview in time for this article. When he entered the contest, he owned all three of the stocks he chose.
Bronze
Donald Ray West, an associate professor of applied engineering technologies at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, took third place with a 149% return.
West’s most successful choice was Albermarle Corp. (ALB), a lithium producer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Without lithium, you can’t make batteries” for electric cars, West notes. But he cautions that lithium is a commodity subject to wide and rapid price swings.
West also got a jumbo return from Photronics Inc. (PLAB), which makes photomasks used in semiconductor manufacturing. But his return was pulled down a bit by United-Guardian Inc. (UG), a small company that makes medical lubricants.
He owns about 100 stocks, and is optimistic about the stock market for the coming year. “The only way you lose money is sitting on the sidelines,” he says.
Eighteen Beats
Forty-two people entered the contest this year. Eighteen of them beat the Standard & Poor’s 500 Total Return Index, which was up 23.3% for the contest period, May 31, 2025 through April 30, 2026.
Fourteen contestants had positive returns, but trailed the index. Ten people had negative returns on their three choices.
You Can Play
Come one, come all, to the next running of Dorfman’s Three-Stock Derby. This will be the 19th stock-picking contest I have run, and the tenth in which contestants must pick three stocks, not just one.
To enter, send me:
- Your name
- Address
- Occupation
- Email address
- Home and work phone numbers.
- The names and stock symbols of the three stocks you choose. You don’t have to give your reasons but I like it if you do.
Email me your entry at jdorfman@dorfmanvalue.com. Or mail it to John Dorfman, Dorfman Value Investments, 101 Federal Street, Suite 1900, Boston MA 02110.
Entries must be postmarked or time stamped by midnight May 31, 2026. The contest period will be from the market close on May 29, 2026 through the close on April 30, 2027.
If you finish in the top three, I will want to interview you on short notice and possibly on a weekend, so the phone numbers are important.
You do not need to own the stocks you select, but it’s fine if you do. Stocks must be traded in the U.S., but don’t have to be U.S. companies. Short sales are permitted but not encouraged, since I have a separate short-selling contest. Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are permitted.
There’s no fee to enter. The winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to the restaurant of her or his choice.
Disclosure: I own SPDR Gold Shares personally and for most of my clients.
John Dorfman is chairman of Dorfman Value Investments LLC in Boston, Massachusetts, and a syndicated columnist. His firm or clients may own or trade securities discussed in this column. He can be reached at jdorfman@dorfmanvalue.com.