how large a company must be to qualify for blue chip status is open to debate a generally accepted benchmark is a market capitalization of 10 billion although market or sector leaders can be companies of all sizes 
many conservative investors with low risk profiles or those who are nearing retirement might prefer blue chip stocks they can offer capital preservation and consistent dividend payments for income and protection against inflation benjamin graham suggests in his book the intelligent investor that conservative investors look for companies that have paid dividends consistently for 20 years or more 2the dividend aristocrat stock list published by standard and poor s is made up of large cap blue chip companies in the s p 500 that have increased dividends every year for 25 years examples of blue chip stocksa blue chip company can be a multinational firm that has operated successfully for several years is a dominant leader in its industry and is widely recognized some examples include the name blue chip comes from the game of poker in which blue chips have the highest value characteristics of blue chip stocksblue chip stocks are seen as less volatile investments than shares in companies without blue chip status because of their noteworthy institutional profile and longstanding financial health they share some other characteristics as well an investor can track the performance of blue chip stocks through a blue chip index and this can also be seen as an indicator of industry or economic performance 