Markets

Insider Trading

Hedge Funds

Retirement

Opinion

10 Least Innovative Companies That Are Still In Business Today

In this piece, we will take a look at the ten least innovative companies that are still in business today. For more companies, head on over to 5 Least Innovative Companies That Are Still In Business Today.

Ever since Apple launched the first iPhone, innovation has been one buzzword that hasn’t gone away either in the corporate world, the media, or business schools. Every day countless boardroom meetings are held focusing on how to be innovative, publications fawn over this company being innovative or that company being innovative, and business schools rack their brains to crack the secrets of innovation once and for all.

With all this buzz, it seems as if innovation is essential for a firm’s survival. This belief is further cemented by the list of countless firms that have gone out of business because they failed to see emerging trends. Since we started off with the iPhone, its rise to popularity put two companies out of business. Both Nokia and Blackberry failed to see the change that the smartphone would usher in, and despite being among the most popular phones out there, dropped massively in popularity. Another classic example is Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:KODK). Kodak, which dominated the market with its films yet failed to see the utility that Sony Group Corporation (NYSE:SONY)’s digital point to shoot camera would provide the consumer, and had to lose access to a lucrative market.

Then, Sony failed to appreciate how the smartphone would become the go to camera of choice for people, and the cycle continues. Yet another example is of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC). Intel lost a once in a lifetime chance to dominate the smartphone market when it turned down Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s legendary founder Mr. Steve Jobs who wanted Intel to design and manufacture the processor for the iPhone. Now, Apple’s partnership with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) has made the latter the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer – and Intel’s biggest rival in the foundry space, one which currently holds the technological edge in chipmaking technologies.

Commenting on the thought process that went being rejecting Mr. Jobs, Intel’s then CEO Mr. Paul Otellini explained to The Atlantic that while his ‘gut’ told him to accept the offer, he decided to go the other way because:

We ended up not winning it or passing on it, depending on how you want to view it. And the world would have been a lot different if we’d done it. The thing you have to remember is that this was before the iPhone was introduced and no one knew what the iPhone would do…At the end of the day, there was a chip that they were interested in that they wanted to pay a certain price for and not a nickel more and that price was below our forecasted cost. I couldn’t see it. It wasn’t one of these things you can make up on volume. And in hindsight, the forecasted cost was wrong and the volume was 100x what anyone thought.

However, even though innovation is king in technology, there are industries that don’t change much over time. These industries often deal with commodities such as coal and oil, or basic products such as cardboard boxes, tin cans, and glass bottles. Today, we’ll look at some firms that have been around for decades and are still making the same products.

Our Methodology

We scoured through the business world to sift out industries that have remained static over the decades. This search led us to identify the oil and gas sector, the steel industry, cardboard manufacturing, glass bottles, and tin can manufacturing, pipe making, and the airline sector as sectors that either have little room for drastic innovations (Delta Airways after all is constrained to use the airplane to fly its passengers unless SpaceX opens its doors) or have firms that have not expanded into new industries or product markets on their own and have instead relied on acquisitions to diversify their footprint. The private firms are listed first, and the public entities are listed according to their market capitalization.

10 Least Innovative Companies That Are Still In Business Today

10. Burch Bottle & Packaging, Inc

Burch Bottle & Packaging, Inc is one of the oldest packaging products companies in the United States. The firm was set up in 1983, and since then, it has been manufacturing some of the most commonly used products out there. It serves the needs of almost thirty different industries. Some of these are the food and beverage, cannabis, honey, drink mixing, sauces, personal care, jars, jellies, and peanut butter sectors. Initially, the firm’s factory was located in Watervliet, New York. But Burch Bottle & Packaging moved the factory to Queensbury, New York as part of a $2.5 million purchase of a former print shop.

Along with, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (TADAWUL:2010.SR), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), and Saudi Arabian Oil Company (TADAWUL:2222.SR),  Burch Bottle & Packaging, Inc is one of the least innovative companies that has managed to stand the test of time and continued operating profitably.

9. Georgia-Pacific LLC

Georgia-Pacific LLC is a subsidiary of Koch industries and one of oldest paper manufacturers in the world. The firm was set up in 1927 as a lumber company. In its nearly century old history, the last major change when it comes to product manufacturing and markets came in 1957, when Georgia-Pacific LLC decided to enter the paper and pulp making industry. Since then, the firm has focused on targeting more of its total addressable market (TAM) as opposed to portfolio diversification to target more industries and additional revenue streams. During this time period, Georgia-Pacific LLC has also carried out a string of acquisitions of similar firms, which include a buyout of the Fort James Corporation in 2000, which at the time was one of the biggest paper manufacturers in the world.

The company was acquired by Koch Industries in 2005 for a whopping $21 billion. Koch initially wanted to focus on the construction materials division of Georgia-Pacific LLC but ended up keeping the paper division as well. Georgia-Pacific LLC is based in Atlanta, Georgia and some of the products that it manufactures are toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, and tableware.

8. Silgan Containers LLC

Silgan Containers LLC is one of the oldest companies in America. It was initially set up in 1899 as a condensed milk packaging company. Silgan, in its current form, came into being in 1987 as Silgan Corporation bought Carnation Corporation’s can division. Carnation was an evolution of the Pacific Coast Condensed Milk Company’s can-making division that was set up in 1899. Since then, the firm has carried out a slew of acquisitions to grow its presence in the container industry. These cover 11 different acquisitions since 1987, including the famed Campbell Soup’s can manufacturing operations in 1998. Silgan Containers LLC is headquartered in Woodland Hills, California, and has focused its efforts on making cans for more than a century now.

7. United States Pipe and Foundry Company LLC

United States Pipe and Foundry Company LLC is another century old company and one that has stuck to its strengths since being set up. However, unlike some other companies in our list that start out as different businesses and evolved into their current state later on, the United States Pipe and Foundry Company LLC is one of the few firms that has been making the same products for more than 120 years now. It started out as a water and wastewater products manufacturer in 1899, and it still makes and sells iron pipes, joint pipes, gaskets, and fittings such as ductile iron fittings, and joint fittings. The company has ductile iron and fabrication facilities all over America, in states including Texas, California, and Florida.

5. Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU)

Market Capitalization as of January 29, 2023: $3.92 billion

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) is one of America’s oldest companies. Set up in 1883, the firm is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Like other firms on our list, it is the least innovative when it comes to product diversification. For more than a century, Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) has simply been mining and selling coal – despite America’s shift away from the dirty fuel to the cleaner burning natural gas. Additionally, the firm saw business grow in 2022 as the Russian invasion of Ukraine shook up global energy supply chains. Finally, Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) is finally changing too, as the firm announced in 2022 that it will develop a 3.3 Gigawatt solar energy facility.

38 of the 920 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey in Q3 2022 had bought Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU)’s shares, up from the 30 in the previous quarter – signaling interest in the coal industry due to the Russian invasion.

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU)’s largest hedge fund investor is Paul Singer’s Elliott Management which owns 25 million shares that are worth $641 million.

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU), Saudi Arabian Oil Company (TADAWUL:2222.SR), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (TADAWUL:2010.SR) are some of the top, yet highly non innovative companies which have stayed in their industries for decades and not gone out of business.

Click to continue reading and see 5 Least Innovative Companies That Are Still In Business Today.

Suggested Articles:

Disclosure: None. 10 Least Innovative Companies That Are Still In Business Today is originally published on Insider Monkey.

AI, Tariffs, Nuclear Power: One Undervalued Stock Connects ALL the Dots (Before It Explodes!)

Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal!

AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous.

Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink.

Wall Street is pouring hundreds of billions into artificial intelligence—training smarter chatbots, automating industries, and building the digital future. But there’s one urgent question few are asking:

Where will all of that energy come from?

AI is the most electricity-hungry technology ever invented. Each data center powering large language models like ChatGPT consumes as much energy as a small city. And it’s about to get worse.

Even Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, issued a stark warning:

“The future of AI depends on an energy breakthrough.”

Elon Musk was even more blunt:

“AI will run out of electricity by next year.”

As the world chases faster, smarter machines, a hidden crisis is emerging behind the scenes. Power grids are strained. Electricity prices are rising. Utilities are scrambling to expand capacity.

And that’s where the real opportunity lies…

One little-known company—almost entirely overlooked by most AI investors—could be the ultimate backdoor play. It’s not a chipmaker. It’s not a cloud platform. But it might be the most important AI stock in the US owns critical energy infrastructure assets positioned to feed the coming AI energy spike.

As demand from AI data centers explodes, this company is gearing up to profit from the most valuable commodity in the digital age: electricity.

The “Toll Booth” Operator of the AI Energy Boom

  • It owns critical nuclear energy infrastructure assets, positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy.
  • It’s one of the only global companies capable of executing large-scale, complex EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) projects across oil, gas, renewable fuels, and industrial infrastructure.
  • It plays a pivotal role in U.S. LNG exportation—a sector about to explode under President Trump’s renewed “America First” energy doctrine.

Trump has made it clear: Europe and U.S. allies must buy American LNG.

And our company sits in the toll booth—collecting fees on every drop exported.

But that’s not all…

As Trump’s proposed tariffs push American manufacturers to bring their operations back home, this company will be first in line to rebuild, retrofit, and reengineer those facilities.

AI. Energy. Tariffs. Onshoring. This One Company Ties It All Together.

While the world is distracted by flashy AI tickers, a few smart investors are quietly scooping up shares of the one company powering it all from behind the scenes.

AI needs energy. Energy needs infrastructure.

And infrastructure needs a builder with experience, scale, and execution.

This company has its finger in every pie—and Wall Street is just starting to notice.

Wall Street is noticing this company also because it is quietly riding all of these tailwinds—without the sky-high valuation.

While most energy and utility firms are buried under mountains of debt and coughing up hefty interest payments just to appease bondholders…

This company is completely debt-free.

In fact, it’s sitting on a war chest of cash—equal to nearly one-third of its entire market cap.

It also owns a huge equity stake in another red-hot AI play, giving investors indirect exposure to multiple AI growth engines without paying a premium.

And here’s what the smart money has started whispering…

The Hedge Fund Secret That’s Starting to Leak Out

This stock is so off-the-radar, so absurdly undervalued, that some of the most secretive hedge fund managers in the world have begun pitching it at closed-door investment summits.

They’re sharing it quietly, away from the cameras, to rooms full of ultra-wealthy clients.

Why? Because excluding cash and investments, this company is trading at less than 7 times earnings.

And that’s for a business tied to:

  • The AI infrastructure supercycle
  • The onshoring boom driven by Trump-era tariffs
  • A surge in U.S. LNG exports
  • And a unique footprint in nuclear energy—the future of clean, reliable power

You simply won’t find another AI and energy stock this cheap… with this much upside.

This isn’t a hype stock. It’s not riding on hope.

It’s delivering real cash flows, owns critical infrastructure, and holds stakes in other major growth stories.

This is your chance to get in before the rockets take off!

Disruption is the New Name of the Game: Let’s face it, complacency breeds stagnation.

AI is the ultimate disruptor, and it’s shaking the foundations of traditional industries.

The companies that embrace AI will thrive, while the dinosaurs clinging to outdated methods will be left in the dust.

As an investor, you want to be on the side of the winners, and AI is the winning ticket.

The Talent Pool is Overflowing: The world’s brightest minds are flocking to AI.

From computer scientists to mathematicians, the next generation of innovators is pouring its energy into this field.

This influx of talent guarantees a constant stream of groundbreaking ideas and rapid advancements.

By investing in AI, you’re essentially backing the future.

The future is powered by artificial intelligence, and the time to invest is NOW.

Don’t be a spectator in this technological revolution.

Dive into the AI gold rush and watch your portfolio soar alongside the brightest minds of our generation.

This isn’t just about making money – it’s about being part of the future.

So, buckle up and get ready for the ride of your investment life!

Act Now and Unlock a Potential 100+% Return within 12 to 24 months.

We’re now offering month-to-month subscriptions with no commitments.

For a ridiculously low price of just $9.99 per month, you can unlock our in-depth investment research and exclusive insights – that’s less than a single fast food meal!

Space is Limited! Only 1000 spots are available for this exclusive offer. Don’t let this chance slip away – subscribe to our Premium Readership Newsletter today and unlock the potential for a life-changing investment.

Here’s what to do next:

1. Head over to our website and subscribe to our Premium Readership Newsletter for just $9.99.

2. Enjoy a month of ad-free browsing, exclusive access to our in-depth report on the Trump tariff and nuclear energy company as well as the revolutionary AI-robotics company, and the upcoming issues of our Premium Readership Newsletter.

3. Sit back, relax, and know that you’re backed by our ironclad 30-day money-back guarantee.

Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity! Subscribe now and take control of your AI investment future!


No worries about auto-renewals! Our 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee applies whether you’re joining us for the first time or renewing your subscription a month later!

A New Dawn is Coming to U.S. Stocks

I work for one of the largest independent financial publishers in the world – representing over 1 million people in 148 countries.

We’re independently funding today’s broadcast to address something on the mind of every investor in America right now…

Should I put my money in Artificial Intelligence?

Here to answer that for us… and give away his No. 1 free AI recommendation… is 50-year Wall Street titan, Marc Chaikin.

Marc’s been a trader, stockbroker, and analyst. He was the head of the options department at a major brokerage firm and is a sought-after expert for CNBC, Fox Business, Barron’s, and Yahoo! Finance…

But what Marc’s most known for is his award-winning stock-rating system. Which determines whether a stock could shoot sky-high in the next three to six months… or come crashing down.

That’s why Marc’s work appears in every Bloomberg and Reuters terminal on the planet…

And is still used by hundreds of banks, hedge funds, and brokerages to track the billions of dollars flowing in and out of stocks each day.

He’s used this system to survive nine bear markets… create three new indices for the Nasdaq… and even predict the brutal bear market of 2022, 90 days in advance.

Click to continue reading…