Over the last 4 years, why haven't Apple, Microsoft, Visa and Verizon performed well?

4 years ago I finally got into buying stocks and all of the articles I've read stated that these four stocks I mentioned are ones to buy and everyone needs them in their portfolio. Well, My total value in apple is $1, 816 and my profit is only $ 777. My total value in Microsoft is $2,450 and I've only made $630. Total value in Visa is 1,564 and I've only made 411. Total value in Verizon is 1057 and the profit was actually in the red for a while but now I've only made $57.

I recall only buying 1,000 or so worth of each of those and then I bought a little bit more of Microsoft later. I did the same thing with Amazon and Google and they were performing so well that I bought more stocks and they have continued to perform very well. So what happened to those four companies over the last 4 years? I see that Microsoft had a terrible day today. Currently down $22 as of me riding this.