6 Companies That Invest in Themselves

For most of the past decade, investors have embraced the idea that companies should pay them first--via fat dividend checks or stock buybacks that bump up investors' share of company profits--rather than funneling cash back into the business.

But investors are starting to get jazzed about capital spending, too, whether it's the opening of a new data center, the retooling of an aging manufacturing plant, or increased spending on tech to boost competitiveness and help a business grow. Since the start of 2016, a basket of stocks of companies investing the most for growth--which includes capital expenditures (or "capex"), and research and development, have gained a cumulative 63%, compared with just 34% for firms that are returning cash to shareholders, according to Goldman Sachs data through early July.

Capital expenditures are on the upswing as many companies take advantage of savings from a lower