Cables don't stretch, that's a misnomer. They settle in, particularly the housing ends in the stops under all of the compression load. If you were getting excessive settling, it was probably due to installation.
You're mistaken. Cables do stretch. Piano wire. Guitar strings. Industrial cable. And brake/shifter cables. If they are high quality, their initial stretch is about 90% of all the stretch they will ever exhibit. If they're not, they keep stretching and the stretching accelerates until they break or are replaced -- like my Gores.